Hope
by Mystic83
Summary: COMPLETE! Sometimes, when you feel like you have nothing left, hope can creep up to surprise you. Sequel to Possibility: Marked
1. Chapter 1

Dee was the first one to notice.

After they left New Caprica… _Kara_… behind, Lee had stopped caring. He didn't want to hide his mark… _Kara's mark_… anymore.

There was a determination inside of him that he had lost months earlier. He had let himself slip while the Fleet tried to make its new home work. Partially it was due to Kara. Partially it was due to the inactivity. Mostly it was due to the slow and steady means by which he lost his way these past two years. He barely even noticed until it was too late.

He had found his way when he lost Kara and most of the people he loved, when he purposefully left them behind. He was the one who convinced his father to leave them behind. He was responsible for this.

And gods damn it, if it was the last thing he did, he'd get them back.

His father had been the one to actually state the obvious, that they _were _coming back. Lee didn't have to tell the Old Man that he had been about five seconds away from suggesting the same thing.

So they ran. For two days, they jumped every hour on the hour just to make sure they were clear of the Cylons. They jumped to live, to give those they loved another chance.

The second he felt he could let his guard down, Lee called his father and told him he had an out-of-the-box plan. When Lee was done explaining, William Adama paused for a few seconds before asking, "You came up with that because of our girl, didn't you, son?"

Lee never responded, but then he really didn't have to.

It would take four weeks to return to the Twelve Colonies. That was one hundred, sixty five days less than it took them to get away. Lee figured that was just enough time to get himself back on track.

The first day, he spent ten straight hours in the gym. By the seventh day, he had gotten back into the habit of running through the corridors each morning. On the eighth day, Dee came to relay the message that his father wanted to speak with him. That was only her first mistake.

She didn't knock on his hatch before entering the quarters. She didn't leave when she heard the shower running. She let herself believe that Lee would want to see her.

When Lee stepped out of the head with a towel wrapped around his waist, _it _was the first thing she saw.

"When did you get a tattoo?" she asked in a slow and careful voice Lee had learned was nothing but trouble.

"Seven months ago," Lee said, moving to the dresser beside his bed. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and, slipping them on, waited for her next question.

"Am I supposed to pretend like it doesn't look familiar?"

Lee looked down at his arm before shrugging. "Most famous tattoo on New Caprica? Of course you're supposed to recognize it."

"Why is it there?' Dee said, motioning towards him without really looking. She couldn't really look.

Lee smiled at her, a small, secret smile that they both knew was _really_ not meant for her. "She didn't want to be empty anymore."

"I came here to let you know the Old Man wants to see you."

Lee continued to stare at Dee and waited. She obviously wanted some sort of response, but he had no clue what that was.

"I don't understand you," Dee hissed, getting up off the couch. She gave Lee one last look before leaving the commander's quarters.

Lee stared at the closed hatch for a few minutes before whispering, "I don't even understand myself most of the time."

Two days later, he looked up from his workout to see Helo leaning against the gym wall. It had taken long enough for the word to reach him. "Care to go a few rounds?" Lee yelled between jabs.

Helo smirked and pushed off the wall. "The way people are talking, you've been a man on a mission the past couple weeks, so no, I don't fancy going a few rounds."

"Wise choice," Lee said, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "I take it you've been speaking to Dee."

"I've been speaking to Hot Dog. _He's_ been speaking to Dee."

Lee straightened up and gave Helo a nod. "Do you want to go grab a drink?"

Helo hesitated for a second before laughing. "Frak, yes, sir."

Lee and Helo walked side by side to his quarters. Lee found himself wondering why he and Karl Agathon had never been friends. They had a lot in common, starting from their insane loyalty to the Old Man and ending with their insane devotion to a certain ex-Viper pilot. Lee vaguely remembered a small moment when he was sitting in what was supposed to be his one and only pilot briefing meeting on Galactica. Helo had given him a friendly wave. What the frak had happened to change that?

Oh right. Cylons.

"Where do you want me to begin?" Lee asked, holding a bottle of beer out to Galactica's tactical officer.

Helo kicked his feet up onto the table in front of the couch. "Wherever the frak you want to start is fine with me."

"I went to visit Kara seven months ago. I missed her."

"I always wondered where you went those two weeks," Helo said with a small nod. "I always figured it had something to do with the Old Man."

"It did. My father sent me there on assignment. He had no clue that I wanted to go. He had no clue that I was dying to spend time with her." Lee sighed and sat down on the couch next to Helo. "I created a reason to keep Kara with me for the two weeks."

'How long?"

Lee raised an eyebrow in question and suddenly remembered how perceptive Helo could be. "How long…"

Helo took a sip of his beer. "How long did it take before you two fraked?"

"Three days."

"Longer than I would have imagined."

"We built a little utopia after that. I was leaving and she had Anders. We both knew it so we ignored reality. Then time was up."

"You left her?"

"I couldn't stay," Lee said.

The room filled with silence as Helo thought that one over. His eyes drifted down to the black wings marking Lee's arm. "I always thought it was odd that Kara chose to get a tattoo instead of a ring for her marriage."

"She had to explain it somehow."

"I don't get it. You show up, you two frak for two weeks straight, you leave, and she marries another man as a way to explain her tattoo which happens to match the tattoo of the Commander of Pegasus?"

"In a nutshell, that's how it happened."

"And it doesn't bother you that she married another man?"

"Why should it? Kara and I always knew that we were going back to our normal lives."

Helo shook his head. He didn't have to be a genius to know Lee was lying. The woman he so obviously loved got married to another man. He was upset. "Just answer me one thing, Commander. This rescue mission?"

"Completely and totally about her," Lee said point blank.

Helo finished his beer without another word and set the empty bottle on the table. "You're a good man, Lee. I've always liked you, even when you were a complete frak up."

"Thanks, Helo." Lee watched the old Raptor ECO as he walked out in the corridor before letting out a deep breath and leaning back on the couch. When had his life become so surreal?

His father was the last one to find out about the tattoo. It was the day before they were scheduled to reach Picon. Lee got called over to the Galactica to finalize the mission he was about to lead, seeing as how they only had one month to get the job done.

It was the only thing Lee was confident in right now. They could do this. They _would _do this.

It happened halfway through the impromptu dinner. Lee wasn't paying attention, and he spilled his glass of ambrosia all down the front of his blues. It was only natural to take his jacket off. The dinner wouldn't end because he was his klutz. Plus, he and his father had yet to talk about the two upcoming months after they've left the Colonies. Lee knew his father was wondering whether he could train that many pilots in time.

"Lee."

Lee realized what he was done as the familiar, stiff tone of his father's voice made his whole body freeze. He had taken off his jacket. He was only wearing his double tanks underneath. His arms were bare.

"I love her, Dad," Lee said, holding his hands up in the air. There was no way he could smooth this over so his father would forget what he was seeing. Lee figured he might as well just come out and say it. "You sent me to her. I love her. I've always loved her, and you sent me to be with her."

"I don't…"

Lee looked down at his bicep. "This was never theirs. Everyone thinks it was, but it wasn't. This was ours.'

Adama waited for his son to look back at him before nodding. "I always thought the design was a little off. It didn't fit Kara and her husband. It was more… more…"

"Starbuck and Apollo," Lee finished.

The room filled with silence as neither man could figure out the next step to take. They had actively avoided the topic of Kara since Lee had returned from New Caprica. Adama had sent him down there with an apology and was rewarded with a simple "It's going to take time with Kara. It always takes time." Adama hadn't been strong enough to contact Kara on his own.

When they jumped away from the rest of humanity, Kara became the unspoken topic floating in the air between them. She was the reason they were _both_ working so hard to finish this mission and go back to New Caprica.

"We're getting her back." His father's voice caused Lee to jolt. "Our girl's strong. She's going to hold them off long enough for us to fix the problem."

"You saw the size of their Fleet, Dad," Lee warned.

"Kara's dealt with impossible odds before. She can do this."

Lee let his father's words sit inside his head for a moment before smirking. "Yeah, she probably already has a resistance movement formed."

"Admiral Adama and Commander Adama to the CIC."

"Let me see what this is about," Adama said to his son. They were in the middle of an important discussion that he really didn't want to interrupt for anything short of momentous. Thirty seconds later, he was hanging up the phone. "We need to get down to CIC now, and you need to get on the line with your XO."

"What's going on?" Lee asked, already pulling his jacket on.

"The jump coordinates were slightly off. We were closer to Picon than we thought."

"We're there?" Lee said, his eyes going wide.

"We're there." Adama paused in the hatchway to squeeze his son's shoulder. "And it appears like something down on that planet has a weapons lock on us."

Lee knew immediately what his father was getting at. The Cylons had left the Twelve Colonies behind, abandoning the very thing they fought so hard to get. If something had a weapons lock on them, chances are it wasn't some kitchen appliance doing the locking. A weapons lock meant hope. It meant there might be a possibility that Lee's plan would actually work out.

Together, the two Adama men hustled down to the CIC. Lee knew that his father was still hesitant, but it didn't matter. Victory was already at their fingertips for one reason only.

Lee knew firsthand that if there was anything Kara would fight for, it was the chance that they might see each other once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee had his flight suit around his hips by the time he made it back to his quarters. All he wanted to do was drop into bed and sleep for twelve years. Right now, all he could afford was four hours.

Four hours and then they were jumping.

"You must be exhausted."

Lee was so exhausted he didn't even startle. "I've been up in the air for over twelve hours making sure those idiots know how to do an end-on-end turn in their sleep, so yes, I'm exhausted." Lee paused as the reality dawn on him. "What the frak are you doing here?"

"I'm your going home present from the Old Man," Helo smirked, kicking his feet up onto the table. "Are you surprised?"

"Get the frak out of my room, Helo," Lee growled. He threw the papers in his hand onto the desk before peeling off the rest of his flight suit and letting it drop to the floor.

"Seriously, Lee, the Admiral sent me over here to replace Dee."

Lee pulled his tanks over his head and threw them against the wall. They were so drenched in sweat that there was no hopes of stretching them out another day. "I don't understand."

"Well, let's just say the Old Man and I were having a talk the other day about a certain mystery tattoo that everyone now knows about. We figured if we can get the people evacuated off New Caprica…" Helo's voice faded off as he thought twice about what he was going to say.

Lee paused on his way to the bathroom. "Karl."

"Well, if Kara's still alive, sir, it might be better for all of us if she knows upfront that you and Dee are done. I know Starbuck, and she has a nasty jealous streak. The Old Man and I filled in the blanks and decided it was best for Dee's personal safety that she be off Pegasus."

Lee's eyes drifted to his bed before looking back at Helo. "Kara's not that impulsive."

"Blasphemy!" Helo yelled, the laughter thick in his voice. He grabbed a few papers off the table and began leafing through them. "Nice penmanship, Adama."

Lee rolled his eyes and slammed the bathroom door shut. "I take it that means I have to work with your Cylon-loving ass from now on?" Lee yelled.

"For at least the beginning of the rescue mission, yeah."

It was weird how quickly Lee had grown comfortable with Helo. He had even adjusted to Helo's relationship with the Sharon still tucked aboard Galactica.

Sharon played an integral part in finding ships on the Twelve Colonies that weren't stripped bare by the Cylons. Without her, they would have plenty of pilots and no ships for them to fly. That kind of assistance goes a long way towards repairing the trust issues. Lee had learned to tolerate Sharon and her relationship with the people in his life, and that made the job they were doing just a little easier.

Pushing all thoughts of Cylons out of his head, Lee flipped on the water and took the quickest shower of his life. He wasn't surprised to find Helo still sitting on his couch when he stepped back into his living quarters. The couch was infamous for being the most comfortable seat on the Beast, and this was usually where Helo gravitated towards during their daily briefings.

"Nuggets all trained up on your end, sir?"

Lee nodded at the flight suit balled on the floor. "I just finished graduating them. We're good to go as soon as I get a few hours."

"How many made it?"

Lee knew the numbers by heart, having gone over them every single night, so he had no problem reciting them. "Ten pilots from Aerelon, six from Aquaria, five from Canceron, nine from Caprica… there would have been more if we hadn't already run a rescue mission there… twenty from Gemenon, three from Leonis, six from Libra, fifty-two from Picon… that's mostly because of the Academy… eleven from Sagittaron, eight from Scorpia, two from Tauron, and six from Virgon."

Helo waited a moment before sighing, "So?"

Lee rolled his eyes. If Helo was going to be under his command, even for a few days, he was going to have to start putting some effort into it. "One hundred, twenty-eight."

"Not bad for twelve colonies."

"I think they're pretty well trained, too." Lee picked his flight suit up off the ground and walked it over to the closet. "Not that Kara won't be pissed when she sees what's been done with them."

Helo wisely chose not to comment on that statement. Pessimism was the last thing they needed right now. Luckily there was a loud knock on the hatchway at that exact moment. Lee rolled his eyes. "This will only take a minute."

Helo heard the hatch open and Lee started speaking. A female voice responded, sounding rather put off , and then the room filled with silence again. Helo could hear the woman's footsteps going down the corridor, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had just witnessed an adult temper tantrum.

Lee groaned and collapsed onto the bed. "I don't think Kara ever had this issue with the nuggets. I mean, do you ever recall Hot Dog trying to get into her pants?"

"I wasn't around," Helo reminded Lee.

"Forgive me for being too tired to think straight." Lee's voice was muffled in his pillow, but Helo could still hear the whiny tone. After a moment, he lifted his head. "Every day I've got a different nugget knocking on my hatch, Karl, asking for a private lesson as if I didn't know what that really meant."

"It's because none of these people have met Kara. They don't know."

Lee smiled and flopped his head back into the pillow. "Damn right."

Helo sighed. It was odd how easy it had been to accept this new dimension to the woman he considered his best friend. From the little Lee had told him, he and Kara basically admitted to loving one another and then she up and married Anders. Lee seemed okay with it for some reason. Helo was pretty sure that was all a brave front. No man can be happy to see the love of his life making a permanent commitment to someone else.

Then again, Lee had seven whole months to adjust to what Kara had done before anyone else discovered the whole story. He had gotten pretty good at showing his lack of concern.

Nonetheless, Helo wasn't buying it. The few times a badly informed crewman told the Commander of Pegasus that there was a high chance they would be returning to a dead planet, Lee snapped. Ishay tended to look the other way when people were wheeled into her sickbay with mysterious injuries.

Lee was in all-out denial, and Helo wasn't a brave enough man to open that can of worms. He hadn't known Lee that well before the Fleet settled on New Caprica, but he knew enough to sense the difference. As Kara would have said if she had been there, the stick up Lee's ass got larger by the day. He was more distant, more quiet, more strict. Even after he told his father and Helo about Kara, he was still different.

Helo couldn't put his finger on it, but something was wrong.

Noticing that Lee's breathing was already evening out, Helo pulled himself to his feet. "Okay. I'm going to go down to the CIC and assert my authority."

"See you in three and a half," Lee said, giving a half-hearted wave.

Only after Helo left did Lee fully realize how much had changed in the past few months. Their relationship had been by necessity in the beginning, but that changed over time. They were both the most senior pilots in the Fleet right now which required them to work hand in hand to get these pilots trained. Together, they had produced seventy-six Viper pilots, fifty-two Raptor ECOs and pilots, and one solid friendship. Lee was surprised his father hadn't swapped out Helo for Dee weeks earlier.

"I am so going to get a kick out of you two when you finally get off your lazy ass and come get me."

Lee smiled at the sound of Kara's voice. He had been wondering where she was.


	3. Chapter 3

Lee took a deep breath before stepping into the pilots' briefing room on Pegasus. Today was _the_ day.

He was pleased to see all the seats filled. There were even people leaning up against the wall. That was proof that his crew had done all they could back on the Twelve Colonies.

"Attention on deck!"

Everyone jumped to their feet and stood at attention, and Lee gave them a small smile. Being recognized as the voice of authority on this ship was nice and all, but sometimes he wished he could go to a briefing, slip into a seat in the back row, and just daydream. That wasn't the reality, though. It had been over two years of standing in the front, giving the briefings and dealing with pilots mouthing off.

Lee cleared his throat as he reached the podium. "I want to start by thanking each and every one of you for being a part of this. A lot of you are new additions to the Fleet, which means that what you're doing comes from a sense of moral rightness and not duty. The people on New Caprica are our people. They deserve to be with us once more. The plan is simple. We hit them as hard as we can as many times as we can, and we don't stop until we've won. Keep the maneuvers tight and your wingman at your side, and the Cylons won't know what hit them."

Lee took a look around the room and felt his heart saddened at the youthful faces staring back at him, so full of hope and life. They weren't all going to make it through this. "Most of you know how important this mission is for me personally. Some of you even know the reason why. I have family done there. I have people I trained to fight, trained to win. They're fighting as we speak. The Fleet needs them back home. _I_ need them back home." Lee cleared his throat, realizing he had gotten slightly off track from the inspirational speech. "I am honored to be leading all of you into battle. Know that I have faith in you and the gods are on our side."

"Now that that's out of the way," Lee continued, "I want each and everyone of you to look your ships over before you launch. We are going to be going at a rapid fire pace in the beginning. Do not go into the fight without your wingman. They are what will keep you alive."

A small laugh came from the back. "Is there something wrong?"

Showboat stood up and smiled. "I'm sorry, sir, but weren't you known for jumping into battle before your wingman launched?"

Lee smirked. Showboat was one of the few Pegasus pilots who managed to fit in when the two battlestars merged personnel. Lee had developed an affection for her. She reminded him of a devil-may-care blond Viper pilot he used to know. "Well, Captain, my wingman was the best."

Showboat laughed. "The best at doing insane moves that could get both you killed!"

"The best at doing what had to be done to keep your collective asses alive," Lee corrected. He gestured for Showboat to sit down, which she did with only a small roll of her eyes. He turned back to the group as a whole. "My wingman and I had a connection, people. That's something that takes years to develop. Therefore, you do not have it. If you want to come back alive, don't do anything stupid. Stick to the plan, only shoot at the toasters, and above all else, focus from the moment you're launched to five minutes after you land. Good hunting."

Lee gave a nod, and the pilots started filtering out of the briefing room. His eyes caught on a few of his pilots from Galactica. "Constanza and Edmonson, hang back a second."

He watched the two pilots finish their conversation and then they took a seat in the front row. They had changed a lot over the past four months. Hot Dog was more battle worn. The exhaustion was evident in his eyes and on his face. He wasn't the impulsive nugget whom Kara had once teased. Racetrack still had the fresh look in her eye, though Lee had no idea how that could still be. His gaze drifted to the nasty scar running along her cheek. There had been an accident with her Raptor when they were evacuating Aquaria. In the end, the scar only added to Racetrack's hard edge.

Lee sighed and unbuttoned the collar of his jacket. He leaned against the podium. "I'm counting on you two to keep my pilots alive out there."

Hot Dog and Racetrack gave a quick nod. The Commander didn't have to elaborate. They knew that they were included in the handful of people Lee Adama trusted with his life. They had earned that distinction the hard way, working months by his side and never faltering.

Lee looked over at Hot Dog. "Watch their backs. A lot of the people in the air will be flying in combat for the first time. They think they know what they're doing, but the guns start firing and they'll blank. Try to keep them alive. Keep them focused."

He took a deep breath and turned to the woman at Hot Dog's side. "When this whole thing goes down, I need you to do something for me, Meg. There is only one person we cannot leave behind on that planet."

Racetrack smirked. "We know, sir. It's quite clear that it's either Starbuck or bust."

Lee's stern face didn't flinch even though he could feel his whole body tense. "No, it's not Kara we need. We cannot afford to leave Laura Roslin behind if we still want to have a chance to survive long enough to find Earth. I need you to monitor the passenger ships. Find out when and where Laura Roslin boarded. Then I need you to pick her up and get her to Galactica."

"Not Pegasus?"

"I love my ship, but she's not where I think the former President needs to be."

Racetrack nodded. "Understood, sir. Is there anything else?"

"Just keep safe. I need you two to help me with the fallout from the mission." Lee held up his hand and saluted the two pilots who quickly threw a salute back. "Now why don't you two use your time before the mission wisely?"

"You want us to check over our birds, sir?" Hot Dog confirmed.

Lee smirked. "I meant, together. Spend your time wisely _together_." The two pilots glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Nothing gets past me on my ship," he called over his shoulder. "Especially when it concerns two of my top pilots!"

The journey through the corridors was rather tiresome for Lee. Every person he passed wanted to wish him good hunting for the mission ahead of them. Lee desperately wanted to yell that they were starting to jinx him with their well wishing, but that really wasn't behavior becoming of a battlestar commander.

Eventually, he made it to his quarters and breathed a sigh of relief as the hatch shut behind him. Everyone had the right to spend this little bit of downtime how they wanted after the ships were checked out and the mission confirmed. People like Racetrack and Hot Dog needed to be with those they loved so they would remember why they were fighting. Then there were people like Hoshi who would spend the time checking and rechecking the flight plans and mission parameters just to be sure every single mistake was ironed out before it was go time. There would be people hurriedly fraking just to get a little relief from the tension like Showboat and whatever able-bodied specialist she could get her hands on. On the other hand, there were people like Helo. Lee had personally signed off on Helo's request for a Raptor. He still might not understand the relationship his newly-assigned tactical officer had with Sharon, but Lee knew enough to give him this small gift. People like Helo were happy to spend the downtime just being in the presence of the people they love.

Lee unbuttoned his jacket and set it on his desk. He let himself take another deep breath as the weight of what was to come began to cloud his mind.

"You know, I used to wonder if the whole mandatory double tanks thing was something the Colonial Military came up with when they saw the way you looked in them."

And then there were men like Lee who spent their downtime talking to invisible Viper pilots.

"I seriously wonder if you have any idea the effect your body has on people. You used to just parade it up and down the bunkroom like it was nothing."

She was laying in his bed, a sheet tucked tight around her body. Lee's eyes dragged over every inch of her skin, and somehow he knew that she was not wearing a stitch of clothing.

Kara's eyebrow shot up. "Like what you see, Commander?"

Lee nodded.

"You know this whole conversation thing works a lot better when the other person joins in," she pointed out. Her hand patted the bed next to her. "Come play with me for a little bit, Lee."

Lee shook his head. "I'm fraked up, Kara, but I'm not that bad. You're a figment of my imagination. I can't touch you."

"You never know until you try."

"I don't want to try," Lee smirked. "Because if I do try and I _can_ touch you, I'm going to have to turn myself into Ishay so she can have me committed."

Kara smiled. "You're right. That _would _make you pretty insane." She straightened up to lean her back against the headboard. "So, tell me what's on your mind, Lee."

"Usual pre-op jitters." Lee took a seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm wondering if maybe I'm completely insane for trying this."

"The plan's a good one," Kara insisted.

'That's because you gave it to me."

"If you think about it, that's not entirely accurate." Kara reached out as if she was going to touch his shoulder, but her hand paused mid-air and came back to her side. "Sorry, I forgot the no touching rule."

Lee nodded, and the room returned to silence. A lot of times this was how his encounters with Kara went. He didn't need her by his side to help him talk things through. He just needed the comfort. Usually she appeared when he was doing something as simple as paperwork. She would just pop up out of nowhere, take a seat on the couch or bed, and watch him work. Sometimes they didn't even say a word for hours.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"Every time I've come to you before, I've been in some form of the clothes I had on Galactica. It was always either the double tanks or the Buccaneers jacket or my zip sweatshirt. Today's different, though." Kara's fingers played with the hem of the sheet tucked around her body. "Why the change?"

"This is how I needed to see you."

Kara shook her head. "You are such a man sometimes."

Lee smiled. "That's only partially it."

"What's the other part?"

"This was how you looked the last time I saw you."

"When you came down to visit me on New Caprica," Kara said with a small nod. "I remember."

They fell into silence again for a few minutes. Lee listened to the gentle pounding of footsteps as people passed the hatchway to his quarters. There were hundreds of people at work right now to make sure this mission succeeded, and Lee was sitting here talking to his imaginary friend. Life after the attacks was truly turning out to be most bizarre.

"You do realize that I won't look like this anymore." Kara's voice came out so soft that Lee barely heard it. "I'm going to be different."

"You'll still be Kara," Lee insisted.

"It's been almost a year since you saw me, Lee. A lot can happen in a year."

"You'll still be Kara," he repeated.

Kara stared at him for a moment before smiling. "I guess you're right. No matter what, you and I never really seem to change."

"I wouldn't know what to do if we did." Lee stood up and walked over to his desk. "I needed to finish with my last minute checks."

Without another word, they shifted into the complete silence they were accustomed to. It continued on for well over two hours. Occasionally, Lee would look up to make sure she was still there. Every time he did, he was rewarded with a small wink.

Just as Lee was finishing his last paper, there was a loud knock on the hatch. "It's time," he whispered, pushing his chair back.

"Promise me something?"

Lee turned to see Kara laying with her head on his pillow. She looked like she was about to fall asleep. "Anything."

"Promise me you'll talk about the last time we spoke. Promise me you'll explain what you were going to do instead of just ignoring it. It's important that I know."

"I promise," Lee said just as the hatch opened.

"Sorry for interrupting, Commander, but-" Lee watched Helo pause and look around the room in confusion. "Okay. I swear to the gods, I just heard you talking to someone in here."

Lee looked over at the bed he had made just that morning and shook his head. "You know I have the habit of talking to myself when I'm stressed."

"True."

"So I take it now that you're back, it's time for us to get to CIC?"

"I figured I'd walk you down there and give you a feel for how Galactica's doing."

Lee grabbed his jacket off the desk and slid it on. The second they stepped into the corridor, Helo started telling him about the speech his father gave to the pilots on Galactica and how he insisted that each and every pilot check out their own ship before launching. Lee smiled to himself. Like father, like son.

The report continued until they were about halfway to the CIC. Then they shifted into a comfortable silence as they both focused on the heavy task ahead of them.

Helo paused outside the CIC doors, and Lee followed suit. "Is something the matter, Lieutenant?" Lee asked.

"I hear her voice sometimes," Helo said, staring through the glass window at the hustle and bustle of the CIC. "When I'm not concentrating, it just sort of whispers in my ear, tells me when I'm fraking things up and when I'm being a complete ass. It's odd how comforting it can be."

Lee didn't have to ask who Helo was referring to. Most of his conversations these days revolved around Kara. It was safe to assume this one was no different. "She's the one that gave me this plan we're executing."

Helo laughed. "It always sounded like something that would come from Kara's head."

Lee gave a quick nod as Hoshi looked up from his comms and saluted. "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

They took the first step into the CIC together, and it was quiet for just a second before commands started being yelled. Lee wanted a quick count on how many birds were ready to be launched. He wanted to know if any of his pilots had succumbed to nerves during the small downtime. Helo got on the line with Dee and started coordinating the time tables for when the jump would be made.

The preparations were all a blur in the end because before Lee knew it, they were jumping and the confirmation of ship launches were being thrown at him left and right. Between Galactica and Pegasus, they had about five minutes to take down the base stars. Half the Vipers ran interference for the launched Raiders. The other half helped guide the Raptors to within comm range.

Together, the first wave was just paving the way. Because after the critical five minutes, the freighters would be jumping into the atmosphere. All Vipers and Raptors would protect them as they made their way down to the surface to pick up survivors. Lee hoped to the gods he wasn't wrong in thinking they'd have help already down there waiting. There had to be a resistance movement of some sort. Otherwise, the whole mission was for nothing.

Pegasus vibrated with the impact of the Cylon defense weapons. The outer armor seemed to hold up as her gun turrets focused on taking on two of the base stars.

It took them well over four and a half minutes, but Pegasus took down her two targets.

"Status," Lee yelled over the buzz of the CIC.

Helo turned in his chair. "Galactica reports minimal damage. They've taken out the third basestar and appear to have the majority of their fighters still in play."

"And our fighters?"

"We lost Swifty, Panther, and Sunset."

Lee nodded. They were all new pilots. He had expected this. "The Raptors?"

"All still accounted for according to Racetrack's last report."

Lee smiled. It was nice to know that Meg had taken him seriously when he told her to watch out for everyone. "All right, everyone. Brace yourself for Stage Two. I want those freighters protected as if they carried the last hope of humanity in their cargo holds." Lee found himself wondering if maybe they did.

Lee recognized the shift the second the freighters jumped into the air above New Caprica. All Raiders disengaged in their dogfights to focus on the newly arrived ships. "Lay down a layer of protective fire," Lee instructed. Hoshi immediately began relaying the order. The ship shuddered as it once again began firing.

Minutes blurred into one another as the focus stayed on landing the freighters in one piece. Lee did his best to keep his mind on the job of commanding, but every once in a while, he catch a glimpse of Kara in the corner of his eye. He was glad she was here.

"Commander, sir, there's an incoming call from Racetrack. She's on the surface."

Lee brow furrowed. The Raptors were only supposed to land in an emergency. "Racetrack, report."

"There's a large number of Centurions down here. Half the Raptors have entered the atmosphere to help hold them at bay until the freighters are full."

"What about the human ones?"

"They're around, too. It seems they're not too happy with the way our Raptors are killing them just as quickly as the tin cans."

"Good work," Lee said.

"One more thing, sir."

Lee could hear the smile in Meg's voice and braced himself for what he knew was going to come next. "Go ahead."

"Mission accomplished, Lee. She's on board."

Lee breathed out a sigh of relief. "All right. That means you're to get yourself to Galactica now, Racetrack. Thank you."

"Red Devil is down on the surface. I'll have him keep you updated."

Lee cut off the comm and turned to see Helo giving him an odd look. He shook his head slightly and saw Helo nod. Kara hadn't been found yet.

The battle waged on. Pegasus was pulled away from covering the freighters multiple times as a new Cylon basestar would enter the system. As the more heavily armed and therefore greater protected ship, it was Lee's job to keep the toasters' big guns out of the fight. He never knew it was possible to destroy so many basestars and still be functional, but he was grateful. Pegasus was a good ship.

"Sir, Hot Dog has relayed a message for you from Galactica."

"Proceed," Lee said, nodding at Hoshi.

"He wants you to know that he didn't see Captain Thrace out there at all."

Lee swore under his breath. "Fine. How many freighters have yet to jump?"

"Just two, sir."

"Have they reported in at all?"

"They're the ones assigned to Galactica so I assume their reports have been going there. I can try-" Hoshi cut himself off, and his hand instinctively came up to the ear his headset was placed on. "Sir, call from Galactica Actual."

Lee picked up the handset immediately. "This is Pegasus Actual."

"This fight's over for you. You need to get out of here, Commander."

Lee wished he could say the voice of his father was reassuring at a time like this, but it wasn't. Not when Lee knew exactly what he was going to say.

"We can't stay, son, no matter how much you want to. The ships are all filled up. She's not coming."

Lee wasn't sure if he had heard his father right. There was no way William Adama was suggesting they give up hope on the one woman who never stopped defying the odds. "Excuse me?"

"We both know Kara's not on any of those freighters."

"How can you know that?" Lee hissed through clenched teeth.

"She would have gotten word to us immediately. She would have let us know."

Lee's eyes drifted up to the dradis. Another basestar had jumped into the system and was two minutes away from firing range. "I can't leave without her, Dad."

"You don't have a choice. We can't risk humanity just to stay for one Viper pilot."

"She's a lot more than a Viper pilot," Lee growled.

"We are not having this conversation right now, Commander. We have to leave, but we will come back. We will keep coming back until every last colonial citizen is free. Is that understood?"

"Yes," Lee said. The weight of what he was about to do was already pulling at his heart.

"Good."

The line cut off, and Lee let himself listen to the buzz for a second before setting the handset down. "Helo, recall the fighters. We're jumping out of the system."

Lee stood in his place behind the main consul until the FTL engaged, and the whole ship jerked as it jumped away from New Caprica. Only then did he let himself look over at Helo. He could see the hope in his XO's eyes, and it made the next thing he had to do that much more painful. Lee walked over to where Helo sat, confirming the damage done, and rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "She wasn't on those ships, Helo." He let his words sink in before continuing, "I'm going to be in my quarters. Let me know when a comprehensive report is ready. I want to know how long it will be before we can execute another attack."

Helo gave a small nod, but Lee knew he was already becoming distracted. That was the thing about bad news. It always found a way to keep you from doing your job. "Have Hoshi and Stevens help you," Lee added as an after thought.

Confident that his presence was no longer required, Lee stepped out of the CIC and began the long walk to his quarters. His mind was running on empty right now, and he found himself wishing Kara hadn't disappeared halfway through the mission. He really needed her calming presence right now considering she wasn't going to be coming to him in the flesh.

Lee stepped into his quarters and realized he didn't even have the strength to turn on the lights. Moving by instinct alone, he poured himself a tall glass of ambrosia and sat down on the couch. This was the last thing he needed to be doing right now, but he couldn't help it. He needed to numb the pain before it really took hold.

He would never know if it was the effects of the ambrosia or the fatigue after the mission or his own preoccupied thoughts. Either way, Lee didn't see the attack coming until it was too late. Something smashed the back of his head, and he lost the small grip he had on consciousness.

A man moved out from the shadows and smiled down at where Lee's body was slumped on the floor.

"I'd like to see humanity do that again without you, dear Apollo."

Leoben smiled to himself before moving to lift the Commander's body onto his shoulders.


	4. Chapter 4

The pounding in his head exploded as Lee finally found the courage to pull himself to consciousness. The room was pitch black, and yet he still found himself wincing. Memories of the last time Leoben had come in to speak with him started assaulting his senses. The Cylon had been a little hard on Lee. Then again, Lee had been rather obstinate during the last round of torture. He should never have mocked their religion if he wanted to keep the pain away.

Groaning, Lee tried to push himself to his feet. He only got to his knees before the agony of the motion became too great. It didn't really matter if he was lying on the ground, on his knees, or standing up. He was chained to the wall. He wasn't going anywhere.

Lee glanced down at his wrists. The metal shackles had cut at his skin again, and there was a small river of red gliding over his fingertips. He knew the cuts should hurt more than they did.

Moving his right wrist caused him to wince. He had forgotten it had broken a few days earlier. At least he thought it was a few days. Between the pain and the tiny, dark cell, he really didn't know how much of his life he had lost.

Lee stared down at the bruising on his wrist until the memory of how it happened finally came to him. Leoben didn't like what he had to say about how easily he could persuade one of the female toasters to let him go if only the Cylons would send someone else in to harass him. It seemed the Cylons hadn't quite gotten control of their attempts at human sexuality. Leoben's anger was evidence of that.

"This isn't how it happens in the movies."

Lee raised his head from where it rested on the wall. His eyes opened as much as they could with all the swelling. Kara was sitting on the small cot that was two feet too far away for Lee to make use of, smiling at him sadly. He waited for her to continue.

"All the good tortures look nothing like this. The man always has superficial scratches all over his body. He barely acknowledges the pain." Kara's eyes drifted over the tattered remains of his CIC uniform. "And he would definitely be wearing a lot less clothing than you are."

"Where have you been, Kara?" Lee asked, ignoring the usual playful tone and digging right into the meaty stuff.

All signs of joking left Kara's face. "I've been right here, Lee."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I haven't seen you for so long. Where did you go?"

"Lee, I've been right here," she insisted. "I have been sitting on this stupid cot for three days, watching you fall in and out of consciousness. I've been making sure you stay with us. It's not your time." A comforting smile spread across her face. "It still amazes me that I can be here when you're sleeping. You let me watch you when you're so vulnerable, even though you could easily send me away. You miss me that much."

"More," Lee whispered. He shut his eyes again as the task of holding them open became too difficult.

The cell filled up with silence for a few precious moments before Kara's voice broke through the quiet. "Why haven't you asked me yet?"

"Because I don't need to," Lee said, barely even flinching at the question. They had been tiptoeing around it for long enough.

"I have been this constant voice of annoyance in your head for months now. Did you ever think that maybe it's a sign that I'm a Cy-"

Lee's eyes flew open. "Do not finish that sentence."

"But, Lee-"

"Shut the frak up," Lee screamed, his voice bouncing off the metal walls. He hadn't known he had the energy to feel this much anger until now. "I do not want to hear you say that phrase ever. Do you understand?"

Kara glared at him before nodding.

"If there's one thing I can count on, it's you being who you say you are," Lee insisted. "You are the only thing keeping me going right now. I can't have that taken away from me."

"Every time I hear you talking to her, it amazes me, Apollo."

Lee winced at the cold, smooth voice of his Cylon captor. It never surprised him when, without any sort of warning, Leoben appeared inside his cell. Nothing about this situation surprised him. If he was a stronger man, he would admit that he almost felt like he deserved this.

"How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," Lee growled. "The pain was too much."

Kara smiled. "Let him think you're hurting more than you are. That's fraking smart, Lee."

"I'm not lying," he hissed.

"I never said you were," Leoben insisted. He took a seat on the cot next to Kara and began the daily staredown with his captive. Lee could remember Kara mentioning something about this particular model of Cylon and his need to make you uncomfortable.

Leoben was searching for something in Lee's eyes, something he hadn't been able to find yet. Lee knew this because he was looking for something, too. Gathering information from this particular model was proving more difficult than he had imagined. In fact, up until a few days earlier, Lee hadn't even known they were holding him on New Caprica. It had taken a small slip-up by the Cylon when he mentioned that he had to oversee the sweep of the city for humans in order for Lee to put it together.

Lee couldn't get himself to focus on the discovery for more than a few seconds. The pain of having his back repeatedly lacerated tended to take away the joy of knowing he was only minutes away from freedom. Still, being on New Caprica meant he had a chance of making it out of this one with his sanity still in tact. He just had to keep believing in the one thing he had always depended on.

Lee pulled his head up to glare at Leoben. "Whatever it is you want from me, I don't have it. Just kill me and be done with it."

"How brave of you," Leoben smirked. "You know you say that every time and yet I still think there's something worthwhile in you, Apollo." Leoben walked over to Lee's kneeling figure and chuckled. "I'm curious. How can you talk with her and still maintain the idea that you haven't completely lost it?"

"You were always a little bit crazy," Kara said, pushing off the bed and walking over to stand by Leoben's side. "Make sure you tell him that, Lee. It'll make him think you're going to snap and go berserk on him, and that's got to be worth something."

Lee knew he couldn't take her advice. There wasn't time. These things happened like clockwork. Before he could react, Leoben's hand was lashing out to punch his face. Lee was thrown back by the violence of the assault, and the back of his head slammed into the wall. He could feel the cuts from the previous day opening up. This one was going to hurt.

That didn't mean he was going to lay down and take it, though. "I am going to ki-" Another blow cut off his sentence, and Lee could taste the blood this time. It didn't deter him. "I will kill you. The second I'm free, I will kill you."

"No, you won't," Leoben said with a creepy smile.

"Oh yes he will," Kara said. She was doing her best to get in the Cylon's face, and Lee had to fight back a laugh. Even his imaginary Kara was a hothead.

Leoben loosened his hold on the collar of Lee's jacket as he realized Lee's attention was elsewhere. "She's still here, isn't she? Even when you're being tortured, you still don't send her away."

Lee didn't respond. He had no clue how Leoben knew that Kara was a permanent fixture in his head these days, but he was not going to satisfy the toaster's curiosity. As always, Kara was a subject he wasn't willing to breach. Even when she was a burden, she was _his_ burden, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He could feel his strength coming back a little. It always did when Leoben started speaking about Kara. The Cylon had some sort of sick fascination with his girl, and Lee found his protective side coming out every time.

"Where is she?" Leoben asked, looking around the cell. When it was apparent that Lee was going to stay silent, Leoben struck out with the back of a fist, sending a spray of blood shooting from Lee's mouth. "You bleed so easily."

"Sorry," Lee mumbled, wiping the blood off his chin.

"No, it intrigues me." Leoben looked down at the floor where a fresh puddle of blood was forming on the already stained floor. "Now, Apollo. I asked you where she is."

Lee still didn't respond and earned himself another backhanded punch. Leoben waited a few seconds before pulling Lee back up to his knees. His eyes drifted down to his hand which was now spotted with Lee's blood. "You know Six would absolutely love the way you bleed if only she was here."

"Bring her in. Lee will kick her ass, too!" Kara yelled from behind Leoben's shoulder.

"Bring her in," Lee hissed. "I'll kill her, too."

Leoben laughed. "I have never understood you humans and your silly need for violence."

"Says the man who's torturing you," Kara pointed out. Shaking her head, she moved to sit back on the small cot.

Leoben continued, not knowing Kara was still taunting him. "But you, Apollo, you are one of the most fascinating humans I've come across. You're right up there with that wonderful woman you labeled a whore in those first few months humanity ran for its life."

Lee froze up. That was a day he had worked a very long time to forget. He had made her run away to Caprica. Everything that had happened to her, the farm, leaving Anders behind… it was all because of him. Lee had no idea how Leoben would know what happened to make him and Kara part so badly and why he was bringing it up now.

"Boomer was still on Galactica," Kara pointed out in answer to the question he had never asked out loud. "Everyone knew about what you said to me. Gods damn deck crew couldn't keep their mouth shuts even if they tried."

"You would be smart to leave Kara Thrace out of this," Lee hissed. Even though Kara was speaking to him, his attention was still focused on the Cylon torturer. Only a fool would let himself be distracted. Lee was still kneeling on the cold floor, trying to hold on tightly to the little bit of bearings he had left. He was no fool when it came to the toasters.

Each one of these sessions, consisting of Leoben taunting him with his philosophy and religion, seemed to hurt him a little more. The pain just built up until he felt his mind slip away. Then he would wake up and go through it all over again.

When the subject of Kara was breached, Lee always knew it was going to be one of the more painful sessions. He couldn't control his temper when that toaster started talking in his slimy voice. The calm, even paced words made Lee want to ground Leoben's face into the metal floor until he stopped moving.

"You don't appear scared," Leoben says, his eyes wide with wonder as he looked down at Lee. "That's what I have never been able to understand. You're on the brink of dying, and you're _still _not scared enough to beg for your life."

"My life is not important," Lee whispered.

"I beg to differ."

"I agree with the hunk of tin," Kara called from her position, lying on the cot.

"If you were unimportant, I would have killed you instead of taking the time to extract you from the Pegasus," Leoben explained before tightening his fist around Lee's shirt. He laid into Lee with a series of quick punches to the abdomen. "I did not go to such lengths just to punch you around so you can die, Lee Adama."

Lee stayed on his knees, refusing to lay on the ground when the torture was still far from over. He wouldn't be left alone until he passed out from the pain. He felt Leoben's hand affectionately wipe the blood out of his eyes, and a shiver traveled down his spine. The toaster shifted from heartless to concerned without any warning.

Leoben leaned in to whisper, "Why aren't you afraid, Apollo? What do you still have that's giving you

hope?"

Lee was too tired to try to hide the sole reason he was still hanging on to life by a thread. Besides, it wasn't as if the Cylon didn't already know. "She's coming for me."

Leoben's eyes held Lee's for just a fraction of a second too long before he shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, but she's not coming for you. I'm not going to lie to you, Lee. She tried, but it just wasn't good enough."

Lee lifted his chin in defiance. "She's coming for me.'

"We caught her a few days ago. I thought we could use her to further God's plan, but that wasn't his will. We were forced to kill her when she tried to escape. It was a last resort. She would be the last person I'd want to cause harm to, but that's what happens when you do something as silly as listening to your heart. I was too busy trying to figure you out to understand how critical her situation was, and I just can't be everywhere at once. We tried to save her, but it was pointless. She lost too much blood. She died with guilty words on her lips. You were right about one thing. She was going to try to save you."

"She'll still come for me."

"She's dead."

"She'll come." Lee's unwavering words of hope seemed to send Leoben over the edge, and he braced himself for the inevitable impact of fists to flesh.

The punches turned to kicks as Leoben settled in to do as much damage as possible. Lee could only hope this was the moment where he would surrender to the pain. Either losing consciousness or dying from the pain seemed like fine options at the moment. His muscles were already tightening under the constant pressure and agony of the blows. He wasn't going to be able to take much more of this. Kara needed to hurry.

When his foot stopped meeting resistance, Leoben paused. He had broken the prisoner physically for the eighth time since Lee was brought to the facility. Each took a little longer than the previous time. For some reason, the young Adama was gaining strength and momentum instead of losing it. Leoben watched his prisoner begin to cough roughly and wondered if he had possibly pushed it a little too far this time with the kicks. There would be bruises. Three hated when he left bruises.

Lee tried to push himself back up to his feet, but every time he got both hands and knees on the floor, grip solid and firm, something would falter. First it was his elbows. Then it was his back. Now it was his knees. Lee tried to push the pain to the side and keep fighting to stand, but it wasn't working. His mind was stronger than his body.

"I have never understood where your faith comes from."

"The gods, dumbass."

Lee's lips turned up in a small smile, despite the blood he knew was coating them. He had forgotten Kara was still in the room as he was fighting to stay conscious. It was worth the pain of moving his lips just to smile at her.

"You still hold on to the hope that a dead woman, one who hated you in life, is going to be your salvation.'

"Death isn't going to stop her from kicking your ass," Lee hissed.

"Damn right!" Kara yelled, kicking the bed. "Damn fraking right."

"She is going to kill you slowly and with great care when she finally finds you," Lee warned.

"I'll be fine."

"She's going to eat you alive."

"She's dead," Leoben said, raising his eyebrow. "She is gone, never to return again."

"She will come for me."

"See? There's that optimistic faith again. Why do you trust in her so much?"

"Because she has never given me a reason not to," Lee answered honestly. He finally made it up to his knees with only a small amount of fresh blood dripping onto the stained floor.

"But where does it come from?"

"It comes from knowing there are things in life that don't change no matter how much the world does."

"But what is the reason why? Why do you do this? Why do you have this irrational belief that she can save you?"

"It's the same reason she never would have given up the belief that I would come for her." Lee glanced at the cot. It was empty. "I would have come for her."

Leoben reached down to grab a handful of Lee's tattered clothing. Lee had no clue where the strength to pull away came from, but it was there. It was just enough for him to set the Cylon off-balance. There was a loud rip as the clothes finally gave in to the stress. Leoben flung them to the floor in disgust and moved to get a better hold on Lee. "She's not coming for-" His voice cut off as his eyes rested on the tattoo painted across Lee's right bicep. "Is that…"

Lee looked defiantly at the Cylon but did not finish the sentence for him. He had vowed to not talk about the mark on his body unless it was absolutely necessary to buy Kara a little more time. All that mattered was buying Kara more time. Because she was coming for him. She wouldn't let him down, not when he needed her so bad.

"A marriage tattoo," Leoben said, still staring with an intensity that made Lee cringe. "I was not expecting that."

"So there are some things that you toasters aren't privy to?" That comment earned Lee another punch, and he found himself stuck on the floor again. His wrist was killing him from all the up and down motion. He could already feel bruises beginning to form on the bruises.

Leoben smiled down at Lee. "This makes her betrayal all the more interesting. She marked you and tossed to the side, and yet you fight for her? Humanity is unbelievably ignorant."

Lee could feel his hands moving into fists despite the pain. The toaster had no clue what he was talking about.

"I will be back," Leoben said, taking a step back. "I am going to keep coming back until I figure out what about you fascinates me so much. I can't decide if it's your foolish hope that humanity is going to win or your insignificant pride that won't let you see the truth." Leoben smiled at his prisoner. "Let yourself rest. God will take away your pain until we meet again."

"I won't be here."

The Cylon let out a loud laugh. "You say that every time, dear Apollo, and every time you are still here. When will you believe me? She is not coming for you."

"When will you learn you can't break me?"

"I don't know about that," Leoben said. "The way I figure that tattoo is the only thing you have of her now that she's dead. It has great value to you, which is why every day you refuse to give me what I want, I will personally take a knife and cut away a strip of that tattoo. I will keep cutting at you until there is nothing left. When that happens, I still won't stop. I will not pause until every last memory, every last thought of her is gone from your mind. I will erase her, make it so that she never existed. All you will know is the pain."

Lee wanted to argue even though the throbbing was keeping him from being able to move his lips. He looked up from the floor, and his eyes burned red. By the time his vision cleared, Leoben was gone.

Slumping to the floor, he tried to figure out just how badly he was hurt this time. There was a new pain in his side, one that felt strangely familiar but eerily new. It only hurt slightly to breathe, which meant the Cylon went easy on him for some reason. Pushing everything he could to the side, Lee felt his eyelids grow heavy and surrendered himself to the dark.

Just before he gave up his hold on reality, he heard Kara humming a Caprican lullaby, one that her father had written when she was too little to remember. He could practically feel the tips of her fingers as they performed a light dance through his hair.

"You _are _coming for me," Lee insisted one last time before letting go.


	5. Chapter 5

Lee had been trying to get his eyes to open for over an hour when he heard a soft gasp. He felt himself begin to stir as a hand came out to support his head. The touch was gentle, something he wasn't used to. Lee wondered if maybe Leoben had gotten tired of torturing him and another Cylon model had been sent in. He hoped to the gods it wasn't Sharon. He bit his bottom lip and forced his eyes open.

Kara was smiling down at him.

"You're back," he whispered.

"I'm sorry it took me so long."

Lee smiled even though it hurt like nothing he had fraking known. "It's only been a few days, and the way you made me laugh in Leoben's face was worth it."

Kara's brow furrowed, and Lee realized she had no idea what he was talking about. He shook his head to clear out the last few bits of haze, and _that_ was when he started realizing something was off.

Kara didn't look like Kara.

Her hair was short, too short. It looked like she had stood in front of a mirror and hacked it off herself. Her hands were shaky as they gripped the shirt he had been given by Leoben the day before. Lee had never seen her hands shake like this. They were covered in blood. Her skin was smudged with dirt and grim, something he hadn't seen in months. Her eyes were roaming his body as she held him up against the wall. There was a haunted quality reflecting back at him that he had never seen before, not even in those tension filled days when they were hunting Scar. All of that added up to something that shouldn't be possible.

This time, she was really there.

"Kara?" he asked softly.

Her lips turned up in a smile. "Hey, Lee."

"You're here."

"You thought I wouldn't be?"

Lee shook his head. "Not for one second." He groaned as Kara pulled him to his feet. "Frak me."

'I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wish I could be more gentle, but we have to move."

Lee looked down at his hands. They were still shacked to the wall. "Um… Kara?"

"Frak," she growled. "I forgot." Kara looked down at his bound hands before quickly punching in a code. The shackles fell to the ground, and Lee did his best to keep from wincing at the pain of having his arms free for the first time in weeks. She bit back a gasp as she saw the raw, bruised skin underneath.

"How… how did you…"

Kara's hands came out to cradle his. 'I spent some time with a Cylon after the occupation. I picked up a few tricks." She held her fingers up to his lips before he could ask her what she was talking about. "Later. I'll explain later when we're safe."

Lee looked her over and seeing that familiar fire behind her eyes, smiled. "Lead the way, Captain."

"I always do." Putting as much of his weight on her shoulders, Kara led them out into the corridor. It was deserted just like Lee had hoped.

"Not many people venture down here," Lee informed her. "I think the screams put them off."

Kara's body tensed against him, but she kept pulling them on. "We have to go, Lee. We can do this later."

Lee nodded. She wanted to do this part in silence. He could understand that. Besides, he stood a better chance of not passing out if he concentrated.

They made it through the winding corridors in under five minutes, only having to change routes a few times at the sound of metal clacking and Cylon voices. Kara seemed to know exactly where she was going, but Lee didn't let himself dwell on why that might be. He could ask later. When it was safe. When his head was no longer buzzing.

The cold air bit into his wounded skin, and he suddenly wished there had been more time to prepare himself for this. The shirt and tanks the toasters had given him were fine for being tortured in a cell, but outside they only served to make him feel completely underdressed.

"Don't worry," Kara whispered. She was still supporting him quite a bit even though he had tried to shrug away several times already. "We don't have that much farther to go."

Lee didn't argue. Her body heat was helping him in more ways than one.

Kara steered them towards a large group of trees. As they got closer, Lee was surprised to see the front end of a military transport peaking out of the brush. "Picked up a new toy while I've been away?"

"The Chief found it for me," Kara said. She paused to help Lee slide into the front seat and then ran around to get into the driver's side. Revving the engine, she purposefully kept her eyes on the road ahead. "It was a wedding present."

Lee nodded. There it was. The first acknowledgement of what she had done.

"So what exactly was that place?" Lee said, turning around to watch the structure in which he had been held captive disappear. It didn't look so intimidating from the outside.

"No one's really sure," Kara said, steering the car over a series of bumps. "The tin cans started building it the day the occupation began. Not many people have seen the inside of it."

"But you have," Lee said, picking up on one of the many things she wasn't saying.

"I'm special that way."

"Are you going to tell me what that's about?"

"You weren't the first captive the Cylons took," Kara said curtly.

Even after months of separation, Lee could still remember the signs she gave that meant end of discussion. It was either a brisk tone or a fist to the face. At the moment, his body was glad she had picked the former.

The car filled with silence as Kara took the back roads through the wilderness of New Caprica. This planet still looked unfinished to Lee even after all these months. Sighing, he turned to look at the woman who had just sprung him from hell. She had changed a lot since he had last seen her, and yet she seemed exactly the same. He couldn't help but smile at that thought. "I like your hair," he whispered, reaching out to touch one of the small pieces.

"No, you don't," Kara smirked. "You've always been partial to long hair, Lee Adama, and don't you try to deny it."

Lee let out a laugh. "I missed having someone around who knows me better than I know myself."

"Get used to it. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good."

Kara was about to say something else when she saw Lee wince. "Are you all right?"

"The car seat is digging into my back," Lee said, shrugging off the pain. "It's not a big deal."

"Which is Lee Adama code for I'm hurting pretty fraking bad right now."

"I'll heal." Lee stared out the window a moment, but when Kara didn't tease him about trying to be indestructible and perfect, he turned to look at her. She was staring straight ahead, and if Lee was in just a little more pain, he wouldn't have been able to see the tears shining in her eyes. Knowing they were because of him made something ache deep inside. "Thank you."

Kara sniffled before turning to look at him. "For what?"

"For being you." Lee could hear the conversation dying down again and realized the silence was making him more uncomfortable than the pain. He had spent too much time being silent when he was the Cylons' prisoner. He needed the noise. "I _do_ like your hair, Kara, regardless of my personal preference. When you're not busting me out of a Cylon holding facility, maybe you can tell me about what transition made you chop it all off this time."

The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile as she pulled the car out of the forest. They were driving through the abandoned New Caprica City. "You remembered about that."

Lee nodded, and letting out another sigh, let some of the tension leave his body. He watched empty tent after empty tent pass by and wondered why this city had gone to waste. The Cylons should have encouraged the settlement to stay active for nothing better than to have the ability to study humanity in its natural surroundings. There should be some sort of sign of life here.

Kara's voice finally tore him away from the maddening thoughts that had been consuming him for the last ten minutes or so. They were on the other side of the city. "So what were you saying before about me being gone only a few days and why did laughing in Leoben's face make it all worth it?"

Lee shook his head. Typical Kara. She wasn't going to talk about anything that happened to her, but she could still question him about what had happened on his side of the story. "You're going to think I'm crazy."

Kara shot him a skeptical look. "After everything we've been through?"

Lee took a deep breath and started in on his story. "From the moment the Pegasus and Galactica left New Caprica behind, you've been with me, Kara, and not just in the metaphorical sense. From my point of view, you have been by my side in every way imaginable. You were physically and emotionally there for me every night when my work was done. I would have full conversations with you about all the stupid mistakes I was making, and it wasn't just in my head. You were the voice of reason that told me I wasn't stupid to keep fighting to save those we left behind. I thought that you might fade away once the rescue mission was over, but I never got a chance to find out if I was right. Leoben took me and brought me here." Lee shook his head. "And damned if your annoying face wasn't there to great me when I woke up. So you see, this morning when you came to free me, I didn't know you were real until I saw how much you had changed, Kara."

The car filled with silence. Lee saw Kara's mind thinking over what he said before she rolled her eyes. "Oh, that is just too fraking ironic."

"What?" Lee asked.

Kara looked like she was going to answer him, but then she caught herself. Her face hardened. "I killed him, you know."

"Who?"

Kara's eyes rested on her blood-stained hands where they were clutching the steering wheel. "Leoben. He… he was on his way to your cell."

Lee nodded and looked down at his own hands. They had blood on them, too, but he was pretty sure it was his own.

The car filled with silence. Lee honestly didn't know what to say. He was glad? He wished he had been the one to kill that fraking Cylon? He didn't want to even imagine it?

None of those things really said what he was feeling. Above everything else, the immense flood of relief, the disappointment that he hadn't been the one, the curiosity as to how she did it. Above all of that, the one thing he hated the most was not having the chance to prevent it. He would have given his life to keep her from having to do something like that.

"We're here, Lee," Kara whispered, snapping him out of his haze.

Lee looked out the window. There was either a rudimentary foundation or a dilapidated building in front of them. Kara pulled the car to a stop and jumped out. Lee took a moment to look over the perimeter. No one was out in the open, and there weren't that many places to hide. There weren't many trees in this area, just large rolling mounds of gravel and stone. A few metal posts stuck out of the foundation in front of him, but they weren't big enough to properly conceal a person. "Where are we?" Lee asked as Kara came around the car and slid her arm under his shoulder.

"It was the start of a military headquarters. A few of us… myself, the Chief, Stinger… we thought it would be wise. Construction wasn't that far along when the Cylons showed up. We abandoned it for the first few months, but then we've been slowly working our way back in as the Cylons' interest in New Caprica City waned."

Kara walked them into the half-built building and leaned Lee up against a wall as they reached a hatch embedded in the floor. "Welcome home," she said with a smile before knocking loudly. "It's Thrace. I brought you guys a new friend to play with."

The hatch opened to reveal a rather young-looking boy. He couldn't have been more than fifteen. "Sir?"

"This is Commander Lee Adama," Kara said, already guiding Lee into the building. "He's to be given the same respect and freedom that you boys give me and the Chief, do you hear me?"

The young boy nodded and scurried off to pass on the order. It seemed like Kara hadn't lost one ounce of that intimidating air. Lee was glad. He had been afraid that he would come to New Caprica to find Starbuck had disappeared.

"How many are there?" Lee asked, pulling away from Kara's hold. He made his way to a nearby crate and, sitting down gently, waited for her answer.

"About three hundred. The Cylons hit us hard after the first few weeks of resistance, and most of the survivors were picked up during your rescue attempt."

Lee gritted his teeth. "We missed three hundred of you?"

Kara laughed and patted Lee's cheek with her hand. "That's the Lee I know, always thinking everything's about him. You didn't miss three hundred of us. Three hundred of us chose to stay behind."

"That makes no sense."

"Most of these people were instrumental in setting up and executing diversions while the rest of the colony boarded your transport ships. Their efforts kept the Cylons occupied while everyone escaped."

"_Their_ efforts?" Lee asked, picking up on her deliberate use of the third person possessive. "Where were you?"

"I was busy."

Lee waited for her to elaborate, but she just stared at him. "That's all you're going to say? You were _busy_?"

"Cottle had chained me to a bed for the rest of the week. He said I was pushing myself too hard, that I still had to recover from what the Cylons-" Kara cut herself off as she realized she had already said too much. Her eyes fell to the ground.

"From what the Cylons…" Lee prodded.

"From what they did to me," Kara said, looking up to stare at him defiantly. "I was stuck in a bed when we got word of what was happening. Others did what they could to help, and I did my best to come up with a plan to get them saved."

"It obviously didn't work."

"Plan hasn't ended yet," Kara smirked.

"Frak me!"

Lee's eyes went wide as he turned to see Galen Tyrol barreling across the room towards them.

"Perfect timing, Chief," Kara said. She smiled at Tyrol as he pulled a very surprised Lee into a hug. "I was just explaining to Lee what a fraking brilliant tactician I am."

"She's the best," Tyrol said. He stepped back to look at Lee and shook his head. "You know I didn't believe it at first when they said you actually came back with him, Kara. I had to come up here and see it with my own eyes." Tyrol smiled at Lee. "No one thought she could do it, you see."

"Do what?"

"Save your sorry ass," Kara replied. "We got word during the battle that the Cylons knew the Fleet was returning beforehand, and for some reason, they chose to let it happen. They had bigger plans to fulfill, I guess. Those plans obviously included the abduction of the Commander of Pegasus."

"You should have seen the Captain," Tyrol interjected. "I thought she was going to grab her gun and kill every single Cylon herself when she found out they had you."

"Luckily, my rationality won out." Kara moved her hand over to grasp Lee's. "I came up with the best plan I could in the little window of time we had. The Chief and I chose to stay behind on New Caprica. We figured if anyone had a chance of forcing Pegasus and Galactica to do a second round of rescuing, it would be him and I."

"How could you be so sure? I mean, all my father probably knows right now is that the rescue mission was a relative success and his son had disappeared sometime during the battle. He's not going to make the connection that I'm down here, that there are still survivors down here. He doesn't know to come back for us."

A proud grin spread across the Chief's face. "Kara thought of that. She put Cally and my son on the last transport herself with specific instructions as to when and where the last three hundred survivors were to be picked up. Trust me. The Old Man knows we're down here."

Lee shook his head in disbelief. "You weren't lying when you said you thought of everything."

Kara shrugged. "I had help."

Lee looked over at Tyrol who held his hands up. "Don't look at me. The Captain keeps saying she had help, but I'm telling you there was no one in that sickbay with her. We were all doing our best to lend a hand to the rescue attempt. Honestly, I don't know when Starbuck became so modest as to not take credit for her own successes."

"Don't you have something to be working on?" Kara said. She jerked her head in a clear message for Tyrol to go the frak away before he said yet another thing she didn't want Lee to hear.

"I can take a hint," Tyrol laughed. "It was nice to see you again, Commander. I'll try to keep you briefed on the situation."

"What was that about?" Lee asked as soon as he and Kara were alone again.

"I never noticed the Chief had such a big mouth before," Kara said, still glaring at where Tyrol had been standing.

"He was right to wonder when you became so modest. The Kara I know wouldn't let anyone else take credit for her plan."

"It wasn't my plan," Kara insisted.

"Then whose was it?"

"Yours." Kara turned in time to see the confusion wash over him. "That's why I didn't call you crazy before. Because while I was being the voice of determination in your head, you were being the voice of reason in mine."

"I don't understand."

"Every single plan I came up with for the resistance was from you. You were by my side, whispering the mistakes I made in my ear, urging me to keep thinking until I came up with the right solution. That sending Cally up to Galactica thing? It was your suggestion." Kara smiled at Lee. "Like I said, ironic, isn't it? You and me both hallucinating each other at the same time."

Lee was about to agree with her when he heard someone call her name. Turning, he saw Samuel Anders walking across the room. He felt Kara's eyes shift back and forth between the two of them, and a sigh fell off his lips. "Why don't you go and tell your husband what happened? I'll catch up with you later."

Kara looked like she was about to say something, but then Anders was picking her up off the ground and swinging her in the air. It was the storybook reunion scene, a wife coming home to her husband after a dangerous mission. Lee couldn't tear his eyes away from the painful scene in front of him.

"Commander Adama?"

Lee turned to see the young boy who had let them through the hatch was now standing beside him. "Yes?"

"I'm Bauer. Captain Thrace told me before she left a week ago that I was supposed to make sure you found a room when she came back. I swear to the gods, I never thought she could do it. Going back into that place must have been awfully hard on her. It took her weeks to break out the first time. She said she was going to do it, though, no matter what. I probably should have believed her." The boy shrugged. "Anyway, she said you'd be tired so follow me. The beds here are pretty soft considering this is the base of an underground resistance movement. I know this is a big adjustment, but you're going to like it here."

Lee let the young boy lead him away from Kara and Anders. He was going to have to get used to the idea that having Kara back in his life also meant having Anders. She was right to think he'd need some down time to adjust.


	6. Chapter 6

Lee found himself still standing in the middle of the room even though Bauer dropped him off over an hour earlier. He couldn't believe this place. It looked like nothing from the outside, but on the inside, it was a direct replica of the Academy. The room was a small cubby with two bunks and a pair of desks. It was odd to be in a room that made him feel so young and yet he knew just how much he had grown up. The Cylons had taken away the last bit of innocence in his life.

He couldn't get his head in the game.

The only thought rumbling around in there was of Kara off with her husband. Right this moment, she was with Anders, a man she hadn't seen since before she left to find Lee. They were off having a momentous, fairytale reunion, and Lee was stuck staring at his past, a past he could never get back.

Gods, he hated that he had lost Kara because, for the first time in their lives, they were _both_ rational.

He should never have left her that day on New Caprica. He should have listened to his heart and not his head. She would have gone back to Pegasus with him. He was almost sure of it. He loved her, and by the gods, that had to be fraking enough.

A soft knock pulled Lee away from his guilty thoughts. He waited a moment, hoping whoever it was would go away, but like everything else, nothing happened like he wanted it to. The door pushed open, and Lee turned in time to see Kara hesitantly step into the room, a small canvas bag in her hands.

Lee had no clue what to say. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be halfway through fraking her husband into oblivion in the more adult chapter to her fairytale reunion. She was supposed to be assuring Sam that no matter if Lee was with her or not, she was still faithful to her marriage vows.

She wasn't supposed to be standing in front of him, looking so scared.

After a few moments of silence, Kara shut the door behind her and, dropping the bag, walked over to Lee. The look of concern was still on her face when she whispered, "Can I see it?"

Lee didn't have to ask what _it_ was. He had known from the second she rescued him that she was going to ask to see it. It had been the secret lying between the two of them for months now, and she wanted the affirmation that it was still there.

Lee slipped his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. He let her look her fill of the tattoo emblazoned across his chest and arm. He wasn't surprised when a flare of desire hit the pit of his stomach and traveled through every inch of his body. It had been so long.

Kara stepped forward and reached out with her hand. Her fingers rang along the pattern, tracing it from one end to the other. Then her attentions moved on to the scratches scattered across his body. Lee didn't even think to wince. Somehow, when Kara touched the wounds, it didn't hurt one bit. Lee felt his heart speed up, and he knew that Kara noticed.

Smiling, she took a step back from him, putting a few safe inches between them. "We don't have a medic to patch you up anymore now that Cottle's been evacuated." She paused before giving him a brave smile and a rather familiar wink. "Good thing you have me though."

Lee paused a second before reaching out to touch her cheek. Kara couldn't help but shut her eyes and lean into his hand. He could see her biting her tongue and knew they were doing what they had always done. They were fighting this. Sighing, he dropped his hand. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Not until the morning," Kara said.

Lee stared at her a moment before daring to add, "You don't have anyone to get back to?"

"Not until the morning," Kara repeated. Her eyes dropped down as she remembered how the conversation had gone.

"_I don't understand, Kara. You risk your life to save this guy. He was stuck deeper inside the Cylon's territory than we had ever been, and yet you insisted someone go in. Then you get him back here and you refuse to let the medics look at him. Instead you have him whisked off to one of the rooms. Now you're telling me that you're not coming back until the morning."_

_The look she gave him was as stubborn as they came. "This is Lee, and he needs me. I have to go, Sam. I'm sorry."_

"Let's get those wounds looked at," Kara said, pulling herself away from the already painful memory.

Lee nodded. "We should probably start with my wrist first. Leoben broke it during the first few days."

He watched Kara flinch at the use of the Cylon's name, but she recovered too quickly for him to ask what it was about. Her fingertips flitted over his swollen wrist before she let out a low sigh. "I'm not a miracle worker, Lee."

"You can't set a broken wrist," he said with a small nod. "I figured as much. I can take the pain."

"No, you can't," Kara insisted. "But I'm afraid that to set a wrist I need a clean and fresh break. This one has already started healing over."

"Break it again."

Kara's eyes went wide. He wasn't joking. "What?"

"Break it again. If you need a clean break, then do it."

"Lee, I cannot break your wrist. You'd pass out from the pain, and the way you've been going, you won't wake up for a week. I can't have you out that long."

"I won't pass out," Lee growled. "Now just do it before we both start to fraking over think this."

"Lee…"

"I know you can do this, Kara. If you remember, there was a small two week period when we first got to New Caprica that you were helping me with my first round transfers down to the surface. I make it a point to have medical reports on all the personnel under my command, even the temporary ones." Lee hissed as Kara's grip on his wrist tightened. "Frak, Kara!"

"I'm sorry," she said, wincing. Her fingers went back to the gentle grip she had before.

"Cottle sent me a copy of your med reports, and I wasn't going to read them. I threw them to the side." Lee sighed and hoped to the gods he wasn't fraking something up by telling her this. "Then you told me you were moving down to New Caprica with Anders. You left my office and me in a complete daze that day. I was sitting at my desk for over an hour before my eyes landed on the abandoned report. I don't know why I read it, but I'm glad I did."

"So you know about my childhood accidents?"

"If you want to call them that, yeah. So you see, Kara, I know you can set bones in your sleep. Why don't you-"

Lee's words cut off as he heard the bones in his wrist pull apart and then snap back into place. There was no relief to the pain. His ears were ringing with the sharp sting, but he still managed to hear Kara say she was sorry over and over again. It was like a mantra, the kind of thing he did when he was under too much pressure.

"Lee, are you still with me?"

Her voice snapped him back into the presence. He looked down at his wrist to see a large bandage wrapped securely around it. She must have reached down into her bag at some point. The pain was still there. "I'm here," he said. He had no clue why his voice sounded so weak.

"Frak me," Kara muttered. She reached into her pocket and held her hand out for Lee.

Lee looked at the pill in her palm for a moment before his brow furrowed. "What is that?"

"It's for the pain. We're low on meds so I didn't want to give it to you unless it was necessary."

'I don't need it," Lee insisted. "I can deal with the pain."

"That might be the truth, but would you take it for me?"

Lee narrowed his eyes even as the fingers of his good hand came out to grab the pill. "Why do you want me to take this? It's not poison or anything."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You've got to be fraking kidding me. I just reset your broken wrist without giving you pain meds, and you're still focused enough to wonder if I'm trying to put you to sleep."

"Wouldn't put it past you," Lee laughed. He chomped down on the pill, spilling its contents down his throat.

"My reasons are selfish," Kara said as she kneeled down to look through her bag. "I just got my best friend back, and I want him to be able to focus enough to tell me what happened to him." She straightened up and gestured at the bed. "Sit."

Lee complied without one word of protest. He felt Kara's hand run across his tattooed arm before she settled into the bunk behind him. He smelled the alcohol before he felt it sting the welts and lacerations on his back. "It looks worse than it is," he reassured her.

"I know."

Lee turned to grab Kara's hand and stop her movements. "How?"

"How what?"

"How do you know it looks worse than it is? Two seconds ago when you saw my wounds, you were on the verge of crying, and now you're all 'yeah it does look worse than it is'." Lee narrowed his eyes. "So how?"

Kara relaxed but let Lee keep his hold on her hands. "I told you the Cylons had me. I just wasn't specific."

"It was Leoben, wasn't it?"

Kara nodded. "He kept wanting to know if I was ready to fulfill my destiny. He got mad after the first couple days of me telling him he can frak off in every sense of the word."

"He started hurting you." It was less of a question, more of a statement. Lee didn't need her to say the words. He already knew.

Kara pulled her hands from his and started cleaning the wounds on his chest. "He wanted information and so did I. So I put up with his bullshit for as long as I could. It was something I'm used to so it didn't even hurt that much in the end. I bit back the pain and waited for the right moment. I would die before I let those Cylons use me as one of their pawns."

Lee watched her hands as they gently swept the alcohol-soaked cloth across his skin. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Kara asked, still focused on her work.

"I would have come for you. If I had known, I would have moved heaven and earth just to get to you."

Kara paused and, after a moment, smiled up at him. "Don't you think I know that? It took me two weeks to realize that you had no way of knowing the Cylons had me. That's why I stayed so long. Once my head cleared and I figured that out, I broke free. Leoben had a soft spot for me so security was less than optimal."

"If he was so fraking fascinated with you, you'd think he'd know better," Lee joked. His eyes scanned her face as she concentrated, and once again he find himself thinking about just how much her hairstyle suited this newer, more inviting Kara. Now that he wasn't chained up in a Cylon holding cell, he could get a good look at it. It was three inches long in the front but almost as short as his in the back, the kind of hairstyle he saw on the cover of _Caprican Life_ before the attacks but with a more homemade flair. He would never have thought to put that style on Kara, but it worked. "I really do like your hair."

Kara bit her lip, and Lee could tell she was trying not to smile. She had always had a hard time taking compliments from him. He never really figured out why that was. She loved it when everyone else told her what a good pilot she was.

It was something unique to their relationship, though. Lee was the only one who could make her uncomfortable with a few nice words.

He reached out to brush his fingers against the jagged ends of her hair and was surprised when she leaned into his touch just a little bit. The smile slid off his face rather quickly as her hands moved on to clean out the gash on his temple. He hadn't realized it was that deep. "Frak."

"I'm sorry. I know it hurts."

Lee watched Kara's nose crinkle as she focused on finishing the job as soon as possible and resisted the urge to lean in the few inches between them in order to kiss the tip. "It really doesn't hurt that much."

"No matter," Kara said, putting down the cloth, "I'm all done."

"Great," Lee said, even though he knew they both could hear the dishonesty in his tone. "Thanks for this, Kara. Having someone I trust do this made it a lot easier."

"No problem."

Kara stood up from the bunk. Lee was about to ask her if he'd see her in the morning when she shrugged off her jacket and started unbuttoning her pants. "What are you doing?"

"Lay down, Lee," Kara said.

Lee watched her kick the pants across the room before she slid into the bunk next to him and forced his body flush against the mattress. She curled up against his side so quickly that Lee wondered if she was running on instinct alone. "Kara?"

"I said I didn't have to go back to the harsh, cruel world until the morning, Lee. I meant it."

Lee moved his good arm around her as she pulled the blanket up around their bodies. His hand fell on the exposed skin between her tanks and underwear, and Lee's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what was so wrong about it. After a moment, it came to him. Her skin which had been so smooth the last time they had seen each other was no longer that way.

Kara's fingers came up to rest on his lips before he could ask her the question on the tip of his tongue. "My scars match your scars, Lee. It's always been that way."

Lee nodded, and moving his hand up, began to trace the marks of her tattoo just like she had been doing earlier. She was right about one thing. It was soothing somehow to know that the mark was still there underneath all the bullshit and pain they were living with. There were still a million questions to be asked, but he wasn't about to let himself ask even one. Kara was on the verge of falling asleep in his arms. He wouldn't frak that up for the world.


	7. Chapter 7

Lee's mouth opened into a large yawn as he woke up from the first solid night's sleep he had had in weeks. There was a heavy weight on top of his body, and Lee panicked for a moment when he saw the short crop of blond hair. Then he remembered Kara's impromptu haircut and let out a sigh of relief. He should have known it was her the second he woke up to find himself being smothered. She always had the bad habit of sleeping on top of him every time they did this.

The pain meds had worn off sometime during the night, and Lee could already feel the dull ache creeping back in. Instead of surrendering to it, he pushed it down and reached his hands up to rest on her back. The scarred skin did not make his stomach clench in desire the way it did before the Cylon occupation, but it did make his heart speed up. She was right. Once the slicing cuts on his back healed, they would match her scars perfectly.

If Lee had to have scars, he wanted them to be like hers.

The gentle circles of his fingertips sliding across her back woke Kara up after a few minutes and she groaned, "I told you not to fraking touch my back, Sam."

Lee let himself absorb that statement for a moment before responding, "Well, I'm not Sam, and I'll touch your back if I fraking want to."

Kara's eyes flew open at the sound of Lee's voice, and he could tell the exact moment that she realized she was lying completely on top of him. She scrambled out of the bunk and reached for her pants. "Shit. I have to get going. There's stuff to do."

Lee sat up and gestured to the small clock on the wall. "The sun's barely come up. You can't have that much to do."

"I have to keep everyone alive for another day," Kara answered defiantly even though she was already sitting back down on the bunk.

"Spend a little more time with me first," Lee pleaded after a few seconds.

Kara gave a small nod, but the room still returned to silence. It seemed like she was still refusing to give him any free information. Like always, he was going to have to work for it.

"So, tell me about this whole not letting your husband touch your back thing, Kara."

"It's none of your business, Lee," Kara hissed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Okay. Tell me why you're not worried about me touching your back." Kara's face went pale, and Lee realized he had guessed right. Whatever reason made her decide her battle-scarred back was off limits to Anders did not hold up when it came to Lee. "Kara?"

She looked down at her hands, and that was when Lee knew she was about to tell him the truth. "You've always had a calming touch, Lee, ever since the day Zak introduced us." She looked up and smirked at him. "I think that's why I let you hit me so much. All you had to do was touch the bruise and it didn't hurt anymore."

Lee looked down at his bandaged wrist and nodded. "I know the feeling."

Kara crawled to sit by his side. "This feels weird."

"I missed you," Lee said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah. Me, too."

Lee sighed and picked out a point on the wall to stare at. After being tortured by the Cylons for days, it was nice to be able to just sit here in silence with his best friend by his side. The minutes ticked by, and Lee heard people walking through the hall outside his door. "Breakfast time?"

"I am not serving you in bed. You are not an invalid."

Lee chuckled. "I wasn't suggesting it. I just thought you might be nice enough to show me where the frak the food is. I am new here, after all."

Kara shook her head. "No, you're the most senior ranking officer we have. You just don't know the schematics of the place yet.

"Are you going to teach them to me?"

Kara's face fell, and she shook her head. "I can't. There's a lot of things to plan if we're going to stay alive long enough for Cally to talk with the Old Man and get the Fleet back here. I'm going to be busy."

"Too busy for me?"

"Too busy for sleep," Kara said wistfully.

Lee took that as neither a confirmation nor a denial. "I guess you could tell that Bauer kid to give me a tour."

Kara smiled. "The kid grows on you rather fast, doesn't he?"

"He reminds me of the kind of kid you would have been when you were younger. Within seconds of meeting him, I had the urge to tell him to go to his room."

"You owe Bauer's mom a thank you, you know," Kara said, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Well, Bauer was one of the kids in Laura's school, and his mom was the one who gave me that fraking fantastic bottle of ambrosia for Colonial Day. You remember?"

Lee smiled. Of course he remembered. Every second of those two weeks was permanently burned into his brain. "It was a good bottle."

"Frak yeah," Kara whispered.

The room filled up with silence again, and Lee could see Kara was struggling to come up with a way to push off her duties for a few more minutes. "So I see Anders got over that pneumonia."

"Yeah. Cottle was right. He was strong, and the Cylons showing up helped to motivate him. I often wondered if medication would have made it easier, though." Kara's face immediately went red as she realized she had just brought up the one topic she did not want to address. The day the Cylon occupation began was one she had tried so hard to forget.

Before she had time to apologize, Lee was turning to grasp her hand. "I would have given you the medication," he admitted. "If the Cylons hadn't have showed up, the medication would have been on the first available Raptor."

Kara shook her head. "I should never have asked you in the first place. I put you in a hard position."

"No, you didn't. I wasn't even going to hesitate to give you those drugs if it was what you wanted. If Dee hadn't spotted the Cylons coming through the atmospheric field, I would have said yes."

"How is Dee?" Kara asked.

Lee winced as she pulled her hand away. They shouldn't be doing this same old dance anymore. Kara was married. "I haven't seen her in weeks, Kara. Remember? The whole torture thing?"

"I'm trying to forget," Kara muttered, looking down at her hands.

Lee knew she was kicking herself for saying something so impulsive, and that was the last thing he wanted. "I wouldn't really know how Dee's doing anyway. She was transferred back to Galactica before we started our return journey to New Caprica. I mean, I do hear her voice from time to time. She's still manning the comms on the Bucket, but I don't really have conversations with her anymore."

"Oh."

"We weren't really talking a lot before that either. Things were strained between us months before the Pegasus jumped away." Lee glanced down at his chest before smirking up at Kara. "I mean, come on. You kind of ruined me for other women."

Kara's response was so soft Lee almost didn't hear it. "The same could be said of you."

Lee tried to touch her again, but this time Kara pulled away before he had the chance. She got to her feet and started walking across the room. Lee thought she was storming out on him at first, but then she paused, made a small movement to turn back to face him, and then shifted back to the door before pausing again. Lee watched her hesitate for a few seconds and then got out of the bunk and walked to her side. "You haven't asked me about how the rest of the Fleet is doing."

"I'm scared," Kara admitted. She was still staring at the door, her back turned to him. Lee was used to it. She always turned away from him when the conversation got too intense. It was the only defense she had that he really couldn't breech without risking a right hook to the face.

Lee reached out to grasp her shoulders, ignoring the flare of pain from his hurt wrist. Kara stiffened at first but then relaxed back into his touch as he started kneading out the knots that had been there for far too long. "It's okay to be afraid, Kara. I know I was."

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "What did you have to be afraid of?"

Lee let go of her shoulders and slid his hands down around her waist. Kara leaned back into his touch. "I was afraid that I didn't have this."

"You'll always have this," she whispered.

Lee took a moment to enjoy the content feeling racing through his body. "As much as I love the fact that we've become reliable sometime during this whole mess, I was speaking more literally." Kara twisted her body to look up at him. "I was afraid that I would come to New Caprica, and it would have been too late to save you, Kara." Her face melted as she realized he had been talking about losing her to the Cylons. "So you see, I understand the fear of acknowledging that which you cannot control. That doesn't mean you still don't have to do it."

Lee waited a moment before locking his fingers with Kara and pulling their bodies apart. He led her back to the bunk, and they sat down, side by side. "Dad's been worried about you, Kara."

"I figured," she said, giving a small nod as her eyes stared off into space.

"He worked almost as hard as I did to get this rescue mission happening as soon as we could." Lee grinned to himself and nudged Kara's shoulder. "Neither one of us bothered to keep up the pretense that we were doing this for any reason but you. Gods, I don't think we even talked about it. It was like everyone knew, and then when the new pilots signed on, the old pilots just filled them in on the situation."

"But the Old Man's doing okay?"

Lee smiled. He knew Kara would be worried about his father. Some things never changed, no matter how big of a falling out one has. "He _was_ doing well."

"What do you mean _was_? What happened? Did he get hurt? So help me, gods, if someone hurt him, I'll… I'll…"

Lee laughed loudly and clamped his hand over her mouth. "Kara. Calm down. The last I saw him, he was doing better than ever, but things have changed since then. I mean, his son mysteriously disappeared from the ship he was commanding, and the woman he moved hell and back to rescue wasn't a part of the people he saved. I'm just hoping Dad holds out long enough to talk with Cally."

Kara nodded. "He will. William Adama is nothing if not a rational man. He never forgets his duty."

"Except when it comes to his children," Lee added, reaching out to grab her hand. "He's always had a soft spot for you and I."

"Cally knows what she's doing. She'll give hell to anyone who gets her in the way of her talking with the Admiral. Don't forget her husband and the father of her children needs saving along with us."

"Yeah, I distinctly remember the way Cally wouldn't stop bugging me until I lightened up the Chief's workload when he was dealing with the other Sharon's sudden appearance."

"How is Helo?"

Kara's question came out of nowhere, and yet Lee found he had been expecting it. "You're going to laugh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Helo's been my XO for a while. Even more, I think he's become my best friend in your absence."

"No fraking way!" Kara shouted, punching Lee on the shoulder. She winced when she realized what she had just done, but when Lee didn't double over in pain, the smile came back. "I don't believe it."

"You told me you'd be amused." Lee saw Kara's laughing face shift into one of confusion and realized where he had gone wrong. "Sorry. That was the Kara in my head."

"You and I are so fraked up," Kara said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I have to agree. Helo told me right before the evacuation that he talked to you, too, but I think that was more metaphorical than literal."

"You were always crazier than most," Kara pointed out. "So, tell me. What made you and Helo friends? Last I checked, you hated him for loving Sharon."

"Things change when your world ends for a second time. I guess you can say I started seeing things from his perspective. Plus, he was one of the few people in the Fleet who understood things."

"Things?"

Lee looked down at his tattoo and then back up at Kara. "He understands how much I love you, Kara." Kara hesitated for a moment before reaching out to gently touch his cheek. Her thumb absentmindedly ran along the edge of his lower lip. "I _do_ love you," Lee repeated.

"I know," Kara whispered. 'I've always known."

His heart was pounding out of control as he watched Kara's eyes flicker down to his mouth. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips before it hit her what she was thinking about to doing. Before Lee could even register the shift, she was up off the bed and out of his grasp. "I have to get to work. I'll try to come see you again as soon as I can. Rest. Don't try to be all manly and push yourself to start helping out before you're ready. I'm not taking care of your broke ass again, Adama."

Lee watched her walk across the bunkroom and couldn't help but think it was almost like she was running away. Just like old times. "Kara."

The sound of her name made her pause at the door, and she took a deep breath before turning back to face him. The tone didn't leave much questions about what he wanted to say. They had been avoiding one specific topic since the moment she saved him, but it looked like she couldn't run from it anymore. Plus, coming inches away from kissing him probably shoved the knife a few inches deeper into his back. Old wounds can still hurt a whole fraking lot.

"I'm not strong enough right now, but you know I'm going to eventually ask."

Kara didn't have to ask what exactly he wanted to know. The answer was in the way she immediately needed to trace the mark on his arm the second they were safe. It was the way his eyes had always sparkled when he thought he was sneaking a glance her way, the way that now when she _knew_ he was looking at her, his eyes still sparkled.

Kara gave him a small nod. "I owe you that much." After taking one last look at where he sat on the bunk, she stepped into the corridor. There was a thousand things on her plate, and this morning she felt she finally had a good reason to get them done.


	8. Chapter 8

A small beeping rang through Lee's quarters, and he wondered when he had set an alarm. Groaning, he sat up in bed and ran his hand over his chin. He hadn't shaved in a few weeks now. Kara seemed to like the rugged mountain man look, though. She had told him that a few days earlier.

Lee's eyes fell back to the small beeping alarm. Kara. That explained it. She must have slipped into his quarters some time the night before and left before morning.

It had started to become a habit. An hour or two after he went to bed, Lee would hear a soft knock on his door. Kara would step into the room, shrug out of most of her clothes, and then slide into the bed next to him. They never said a word to one another because it would break whatever spell had been cast.

It was too easy to get used to the feel of her body against his.

Lee knew why she came to him only at night. Night could be a scary time on New Caprica. There were always noises ringing through the air, distant bombings, a few screams. Eventually the ground would start shaking. It could be unnerving.

Kara came to him for comfort, for reassurance that she still had that stability she needed. She clung to him in a way that he knew she never did with Anders. She let herself be vulnerable, and Lee wanted nothing more than to protect her so he never said a word.

He wasn't sure if Anders knew where his wife was going during the night. Kara only slipped into his room every few days or so, and she was always gone by morning. Lee figured Anders was in denial. He probably thought she was off running the corridors or punching something to get her tension out. He would never think she was in bed with another man.

Lee had done his best to avoid talking with Anders for the past three months. He was afraid that if the ex-pyramid captain got on the wrong side of Lee's temper for just one second, he'd do something stupid like show Anders the tattoo on his arm. There were many days where he had to force himself to stay silent. Then he would see Kara laughing with her husband, and he would know he could never say a word. It would hurt her too much.

He could still feel Kara's finger tracing the small circle and wing on his right arm. She seemed fascinated by the ink-stained skin. For the first few weeks, she didn't sleep when she came to him. She would just stare at him, idly tracing the marks with her fingertips. Lee didn't blame her. If he wasn't still in pain, he would have spent most of his night staring right back at her.

There had only been one close call. Lee had been fiddling with a few of the newer weapons the Chief was designing and there had been a small oil spill. It got all over his tanks, and Lee took them off without really thinking. He realized within seconds when Kara's voice came screaming across the room.

"_Adama! Fraking put your tanks back on! _"

They both played it off as another joke about keeping the women off of him, but the Chief had given Lee a strange look as he was leaving. It seemed it didn't take much for Galen Tyrol to put two and two together. Anders had been with Kara that day, but he was so focused on why his wife had such a random, sudden outburst that he didn't turn in time to see what Lee was hiding.

After that, Kara started running interference. She gave Lee and Anders projects that kept them on separate sides of the base. Lee didn't slip up again, but they obviously weren't taking any chances.

It was odd how okay Lee was with the situation. Kara was married. She lived in her quarters with Anders and spent most, if not all, of her downtime with him, rightfully so since he was her husband. Yet Lee couldn't help but feel like there was something missing in Anders' relationship with his best friend. There were quite a few things slightly off with Kara and Anders. It was nothing too noticeable, just the little things.

She was happy, though. Lee could see that.

Sighing, Lee pulled himself out of bed and walked over to his desk. There was a large pile of papers just waiting for him to look over. Kara had him evaluating the few defense protocols they have in place for when they leave this little hideaway. Lee was pretty sure it was busy work, but he didn't mind it. It kept his focus on something more productive than why even after she got happily married to another man, he still wanted to steal her away.

Lee looked down at the new diagrams one of the other survivors drew up. He was a million miles away from Galactica and Pegasus, and yet he still felt like he was in command. It had been a gradual shift, mostly by necessity.

The first week or so was a complete blur. He was still healing from what the Cylons did to him, and the pain kept him weak. The only thing he could remember was Kara. Glimpses of her running her hand along his aching muscles, whispering anything and everything into his ear as he slipped off to sleep, rubbing ointment on the wounds on his back, smiling down at him without saying a word. She took care of him. She spent every waking moment by his side until she was sure he would be okay.

Eventually, when he was strong enough to realize she _did_ have better, more important things to do, he asked her why she was making him her top priority. Her work could wait, she insisted. He needed her to get through this.

Lee had reached his hand out to run along the scars on her back. "So who helped you through this when it happened to you?"

"You did," Kara smiled, leaning into his body. His arms wrapped around her and held her tight. "I mean, you weren't here to rub ointment on me or anything."

"Gods, I wish I was," Lee joked.

Kara chuckled before her face went serious again. "It was your voice that soothed me at night when the nightmares got too intense. I kind of closed myself off from everyone, but I couldn't really get you out of my head."

They had sat there, holding each other in silence, the rest of that night.

It was one of those moments that defined who they were. It defined what they stood for together.

Lee threw down the diagrams and, picking a shirt and pants up off the back of his desk chair, slid them on. It was almost breakfast time, and he didn't want to miss his daily date with his favorite blond. Lee had no idea how Kara kept it up, but she always managed to be down in that mess hall whenever he showed up in the morning. She would kick out the chair across from her in invitation, and they would just banter their way right through breakfast.

They did that a lot. Lee almost felt as if he was back on Galactica during those first weeks after the attack. Back then, he and Kara seemed to make time for one another. They fixed Vipers together. They played triad together. She even helped him plan briefings. They would seek each other out just to make sure everything was still okay.

They were doing it again now, that damn seeking each other out thing.

Lee would have to go outside to make sure none of the defenses around their complex had been breached, and Kara popped up at the last minute to help him. He tried to get a little tension relief by going to the makeshift gym that had been set up, and Kara was already there kicking the crap out of some unlucky bastard. She was flinging food at him in the middle of lunch because he had his serious face on and screaming at him when he tried to talk to her about what the Cylons had done. She still wouldn't open up completely. She was asking him about what life would be like when they finally got back to the Fleet, and he was promising her a place on Pegasus if she just said the word. She was always in front of his eyes, in his head, in his heart.

Kara was everywhere these days, and he didn't mind one bit.

Finally finished lacing up his boots, Lee's eyes fell back to the alarm, thinking about Kara setting it quickly and then tiptoeing out of the room. The haze of early morning finally cleared from his head as he put two and two together to suddenly remember why Kara would have set an alarm on this particular day. "Frak!" he hissed, jumping up.

He grabbed his holster and jacket where they were hanging off the end of the bunk and took off in an all-out sprint.

Today was the day they were going home.

He found her in the middle of chaos. She was side by side with her husband, and they were rallying the troops. Lee stepped up to do his part. Sometime after he had gotten over the injuries the Cylons had given him, he had become a part of this resistance. Even more, he had become one of its leaders. It was him, Kara, Anders, and Tyrol. Together, they were giving these courageous fighters a reason to believe they still had lives to lead.

Kara turned mid-sentence to give Lee a big smile. "Well, look who finally got his lazy ass out of bed and decided to join us."

"Thanks for that," Lee said, referring to the alarm. He looked at the plans on the table in front of Kara. "What do we have here?"

"Taylor wants to make this place go kaboom."

Lee turned to look at the other man standing around the table. Cole Taylor had been his XO on Pegasus before they settled on New Caprica. Now he was just another person trying to be reunited with the only home he had known for the past two years.

'I just think we need to destroy this base so the Cylons can't use it in any way to track us. We don't have the technology to wipe it clean so we're going to have to use the last of our ammunition to burn it."

"Personally, I think Taylor just misses being in his Raptor and blowing things up," Kara interjected.

Lee rolled his eyes. It wouldn't be a normal day if Kara wasn't snipping at Stinger in some way. "Though I think covering our tracks is a good idea, I'm not sure blowing the whole place would be wise. If things don't go right with Galactica-" He could see Kara tense even as the words fell from his mouth. "Don't," he said, holding up a hand. "As well-thought out as your plan is, it could go wrong. We might not be returning home today, and that's something we have to deal with. _Before it happens_."

Kara narrowed her eyes at him for a moment but gave him a curt nod of agreement. "Fine. What do you suggest, Commander?"

Lee winced. He hated when she used his rank. "A timed delay on the trigger, one that we can deactivate if we need to. Taylor gets his explosion and we get the security of knowing if the explosion happens we'll be millions of miles away. Do we have the hardware for that?" Lee turned to Anders for the first time. The ex-pyramid captain had been in charge of their ammunitions and potential demolitions. It seems Sam had gotten a taste for blowing things up when he was on Caprica.

"I can make it happen." Anders glanced over at Kara. "If we're all in agreement?"

"Do what the stupid men want," Kara said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I don't give a frak. We're getting off this rock today so it doesn't even matter."

Lee shook his head. He had no clue where Kara's undying optimism came from, but he was glad it was there.

"Lee! Kara!"

Lee turned to see the Chief jogging towards them. He tried not to dwell on the way Anders looked so pissed off at Tyrol's obvious admission of his name when calling across the room. Lee had asked Tyrol about that when he first started taking command of the resistance group. It seemed that since the day Kara brought Lee back with her, people had started seeing Anders not as the person running the show alongside Kara but as the spouse of one of their leaders. Lee had taken Anders place in their eyes without realizing it.

"Everyone's saddled up," the Chief said as soon as he was close enough. "We're ready to move out."

Lee nodded. "Fine. Kara?"

Kara took a quick look at the people still inside the planning room. These were the most important people, the ones who were going to make sure this rescue happened. "All right. Taylor, Sam, you need to bring up the rear. Make sure that no one gets left behind. Take Conners and Matthews with you. Chief, I want you to stay in the middle. Keep the peace. Bauer can help with that. Sam, find Barclay and have her set the charges. She'll be able to catch up with us when she's done." Kara looked around the room before nodding her head. "All right, people! Let's do this."

"Wait," Sam hissed, grabbing Kara's arm to hold her behind as everyone began to move. "Where are you going to be during all this?"

"I'm going to be up front," Kara said. She bit her lip and tried not to wince as she said the next part. "With Lee."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Sam, we've had this discussion before. I might be an important part of this thing, but I'm still expendable. If I get shot down, if I die, you will move on. I will not hide, and I will not back down."

Sam reached out to caress her cheek. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that. You're far from expendable."

"Only to some," Kara said, biting her lip.

"To me." Anders leaned in to give brush his lips lightly across hers. "I love you, Mrs. Anders."

"Call me Kara," she joked.

Lee waited patiently at the hatchway for Kara to say goodbye to her husband, and he did his best to keep his eyes glued to the ground. Usually Kara kept these displays of affection pretty private. On a day like today, it was pretty hard, especially since she's banished Anders to the back of the group. Lee agreed with her decision of course. Anders was one of the best fighters they had, and he would do well protecting the rear.

"Good hunting, Commander."

Lee looked up to see Anders standing in front of him. "I think it's about time you called me Lee, Sam."

Anders regarded him a moment before nodding. Without another word, he stepped outside and started screaming orders for everyone to stick together and not frak up.

Lee felt a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't turn. Kara leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Looks like it's you and me again."

Lee tilted his head to rest on hers and smiled. "All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again." Kara bit his shoulder lightly in protest. "Ow!"

"That's what you get for using Cylon speak on me, Adama," she warned.

"Just don't pinch me." Lee twisted his body and laid his arm around Kara's shoulders. Together they started walking. "So what'd you say to Anders to convince him that having you and me up front was a tactical move?"

"I didn't have to convince him of anything," Kara insisted. "I simply said I needed you there, and that was that." Kara tried not to dwell on the fact that she had been using that phrase with Sam more and more each day. It seemed there were a million things she needed Lee for.

Kara shrugged out of Lee's arms as they neared the group. Everyone knew about her special relationship with the Commander, but she didn't like to broadcast it. Switching into Starbuck mode, she started yelling and within seconds, the group was moving like a well-oiled machine.

It was all business for the first two miles out of the city, and then Kara gave the order that they could relax at least partially. She assigned people to hold a perimeter around the group and keep their eyes peeled. Everyone in the middle of the circle got to take a breather. Kara didn't have to tell Lee that they were never going to be a part of that middle group.

"You're different, you know," Lee whispered as the group inched forward.

Kara didn't even flinch. "How so?"

"It took me a while to figure it out. I mean, I knew you would be different. You've been through a lot here on Caprica."

"So have you."

"And I'm different for it, too."

"All right. So we're both different." Kara smirked. "Maybe that's why you and I haven't gotten into a fist fight for the past few weeks."

"We haven't changed that much." Lee sighed and, scanning the area around them, reached out to take her hand. "Seriously, Kara, it's been years since I've seen you this happy."

Kara nodded. She wasn't going to pretend like she wasn't. "What does that say about me? We're in the middle of a hellhole planet occupied by a bunch of machines, and I've finally decided to be happy."

"I'd like to think that's partially because of me, but I'm not that oblivious. You were happy before I showed up."

Kara stayed silent.

"You're happy with Sam, Kara, and I'm willing to let go of whatever this is between us because of that."

"You better not be saying goodbye to me right now, Lee, or so help me gods, I will kill you with my own bare hands."

Lee squeezed her hand. "No, I'm not saying goodbye, Kara. I'm not going anywhere. It's just… You're happy. The last time I saw you like this was when Zak was alive. I can remember the way your smile just radiated. I liked seeing you that way."

Kara leaned in to hug Lee's arm. "You're really too good to me sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Well, we do tend to self-destruct rather frequently."

"Good point."

Kara sighed. "So if I'm happy, what does that make you?"

"Content."

"Good." Kara pulled back but left their hands linked together. They continued to scan the area in front of them. Every time one of their men came over to ask them a question or relay information, they broke apart. The second they were alone again, they gravitated towards each other again. Lee was really starting to understand what it meant when he said Kara was his best friend. It was a level of comfort he had never really felt before.

They made it to the clearing the Chief and Cally had chosen months earlier, and Kara quickly found spots for each and every person to settle in. They were as hidden as they could be, and Kara hoped it was enough. She took a few seconds to make sure Anders was set in keeping the rest in line and then took up the front position where Lee was waiting for her. In the end, they were the only ones who could decide if this rescue mission was a go.

"You never asked me that question," Kara said after a few minutes of silent scanning of the horizon.

"It's important to you that I know?" Lee asked without turning to look at her.

"It wasn't easy."

"I never said it was." Lee sighed and reached out to rest his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't think that you just impulsively decided to marry Anders because you were bored, Kara. You're not that kind of person. You thought it out before telling him yes."

"You were right, Lee. Sam makes me happy. He was there for me on Caprica when I needed him, and I'm not saying that to make you feel bad. I know you would have been there for me if you could, but you couldn't. When he asked me to marry him, I wasn't sure I was ready for that kind of commitment. I knew how vulnerable swearing yourself to someone else can make you, and it scared me to know I could be willing to put myself in that position for a second time."

"Kara?" Lee waited until she looked up at him before smiling. "Can I say something before you say the rest? You don't have to worry about hurting my feelings. I'm a big boy. I can handle the fact that you love another man."

Kara looked down at the ground and started absentmindedly ripping up the grass. "Lines were drawn, Lee. I was down on New Caprica. I formed a life there, helping with the resettlement initiative. You were up on Pegasus, and we both know that was where you were going to stay. You had a duty to protect each and every life down on the planet, and you are a honorable man, Lee Adama. You do what's right even when it means sacrificing the things you want." Kara sighed and, looking up, shrugged. "So I said yes. I wanted to be happy."

Lee turned to look at the clearing before twisting to study her again. Kara could see him working something out in his head, and she knew the moment he came to a resolution. "So, when is this Raptor supposed to make contact?"

A small laugh slipped from her lips, and she rolled her eyes. "Any minute now. Hopefully, it won't take long after that to get the rest of the rescue effort to come in."

Kara and Lee both focused in on the silence as they realized this was it. This was the moment where they finally found out if there was still a future to be had. The noises of the planet filled the air around them, and Kara tried her best to not let it get to her. Why the frak wasn't the Raptor here by now?

"I love you."

It took Kara a few seconds to realize the sound came from Lee. She turned to see him staring at her.

"I love you, Kara, and we are _going_ to get through this."

Kara could feel her eyes tearing up, and if it wasn't for a rather loud rumbling that suddenly started in the air above them, she would have cried. Instead, she bit her lip as hard as she could and prepared herself for the moment of truth.

The Raptor landed, and Kara could feel everyone's eyes on her and Lee. It was their job to identify who had been sent to greet them and decide what the next move would be. The pressure of being the one in charge would scare her to death if she wasn't sitting next to the one person she trusted to help her do this right. She couldn't help feeling confident when Lee was around. Turning to look at Lee, she smirked. The bastard even had the balls to look confident when they both knew they were in over their heads. Kara watched Lee stiffen and realized she had let her mind drift from the mission. A familiar face was stepping out of the ship.

"Why would they send Sharon?" Kara muttered as she turned back to the Raptor.

"You said you told Cally to have my father send someone he trusts," Lee reminded her.

"I didn't think that would be a Cylon."

"Some things have shifted while you were down here fighting," Lee said. He hated that there was no time for him to talk about Galactica and Pegasus while he was with Kara. There were things she needed to know, things he needed to get right.

Knowing now was not the time, Lee kept his eyes locked on the woman standing outside the Raptor. "Don't get me wrong, Kara. I'm not saying Dad sending Sharon down here is anything but odd. I'm just pointing out it's not as odd as you think."

"What should we do?" Kara asked, twisting to look at the people behind them. There were so many people depending on her right now.

"Hold on. I'm thinking."

A small noise sounded somewhere to their left, and both Kara and Lee turned to see Anders creeping his way towards them. "I told you to protect the back," Kara hissed as soon as he was crouching next to them.

Lee could hear the frustration in her voice as she reprimanded her husband. It seemed like this was happening more often.

"Relax, Kara. I left Taylor back there. It will be fine." Anders glanced at Lee briefly before turning back to his wife. "What's going on?"

"A Raptor landed. Sharon came down the ramp. We don't know what the frak to do." Kara turned to look out at the clearing. "So, all caught up. Go back to your post, Sam."

"Eight?" Anders said as he tried to grasp what Kara was saying.

Lee bit back a laugh. Anders refused to call the Cylons by any of the names they assumed in their various incarnations. At first, it concerned Lee. If Anders couldn't understand the humanity that these machines evolved to have, there was no hopes that he could learn how to fight them.

When Lee mentioned this to Kara, she insisted that wasn't the point. She thought it had something to do with the months Anders spent on Caprica waiting for her to return and save him. Lee still wasn't sure. All he knew was his gut kept telling him Anders wasn't strong enough to do what had to be done. He had come to accept Kara's husband for what he was, but Lee couldn't get rid of all his reservations no matter how hard he tried.

When it was clear Anders wasn't going anywhere, Kara sighed. "We're not sure if she's the one from Galactica or if the Cylons found out what we were planning," she explained, voicing the concerns that neither she or Lee had bothered to point out to one another. It was just understood that this new development could frak with everything they planned. "If she isn't Sharon, then we can't let her know we're all here."

"And if she is?"

"Then we can't waste time by sitting here debating."

"Hence the problem," Lee chimed in.

The trio returned to silence, all watching as the Cylon began to pace back and forth. Everything appeared to be on the up and up which was why it was so worrying. They weren't sure what that worry meant.

Kara turned away from Anders to look at Lee. "What the frak do you think we should do?"

Lee shrugged. 'There's no right answer to this one, Kara. It could go either way."

"Only one way to find out," Anders whispered. He leaned in to give Kara a quick kiss before giving her a devil may care grin and walking out into the clearing.

"Sam, you fraking idiot! Get your ass back here!" Kara hissed.

Sam turned to give her another grin and yelled out to Sharon.

"What's going on, Captain?"

Kara turned to see Bauer crouching with the nearest group of people and then looked around him to see all the other sets of eyes trained on her and Lee. "What's happening is my husband is being a complete idiot like always." She turned back to see that Anders was still talking to the Cylon who landed the Raptor. "What the frak is he doing?" she whispered.

Lee couldn't answer. He had no clue what Anders would be talking to Sharon about. If she was the right one, he should already be motioning for them to come out of hiding. If she was the wrong one, he should be dead by now. There was no reason for conversation.

Anders began aggressively gesturing, and Lee could see Kara's body tense. "You can't go out there," he whispered.

"I know," she said, leaning forward a few inches. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Everything seemed to slow down as Lee watched Sharon turn away from Anders. She looked directly at the mound of dirt he and Kara were hiding behind and kept talking. He could see Anders shaking his head and screaming something, and then Sharon's eyes connected with Kara's.

An voice from somewhere behind them asked, "What's she's saying?"

Lee answered even as he was moving forward to stop Kara. "She said I'm sorry."

His arms caught Kara and pulled her back to the ground before she got two feet from their hiding place. She struggled against him with all her might, but Lee didn't let up. He couldn't. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what he was about to do. This was going to break his heart.

"Whatever's about to happen is going to happen," he hissed in her ear as he held her against him. "Running out there isn't going to help. We cannot risk everything we've worked for."

"Frak off." Kara kneed him hard in the groin and was on her feet in seconds. Swearing, Lee rushed after her. They were halfway across the clearing when the gunshot rang out and Anders crumbled to the ground. A gut-wrenching scream erupted from Kara, and it took all of Lee's strength to keep her from clawing the rest of the distance.

"We have to move," Lee yelled as gunshots began to fall from every direction. If he didn't get them out of here right fraking now, they were all going to be killed.

"Sam!" Kara yelled.

Lee's grip tightened. When this was all over, she was going to hate him for what he had to do. "He's not getting up, Kara. He's dead."

Kara stilled as Lee's words hit her very core. She knew he was right. Her husband was lying on the ground, not moving. He had been shot point blank. He wasn't getting up. Sam was dead, and she still had a job to do. Anders needed her, but so did hundreds of others. She turned to look at Lee, and the sadness in her eyes made him want to scream. "Why can't they let me be happy, Lee?"

Lee wished he could answer her, reassure her that somehow this would all turn out all right. Like always, there just wasn't time. Things were happening too quickly. There were gunshots and screaming and all Lee could think was he needed to keep his head on straight. Kara's heart had taken her head out of the game so he was alone now. He needed to figure out what to do, and he had to do it on his own.

Kara was still not moving. She looked like she was about to make another attempt to run to her fallen husband, and Lee took this opening of vulnerability that she gave him. Latching his hand onto her arm, he pulled them back to where the rest of the resistance was pinned down. They had to get out of here.

"Commander, what's our orders?"

Lee looked over at the Chief. Sometime in the chaos, Tyrol had taken the point position. _Focus, Lee. Focus. Make a decision. Stick to it. Keep Kara safe. Keep them moving. Don't let them forget what we're fighting for. Protect Kara. Protect Kara. Protect Kara._

"Commander?"

Lee's face steeled as his instincts kicked in. "Orders are we get the frak out of here right now."

"You heard the Commander," Tyrol yelled. "Move out, people!"

"Head back towards the city." Lee figured that would give him enough time to think this through. He would know the next move to take by the time they got there. There was just one thing he needed to set straight before they started inching their way to the city.

He pulled Kara to the ground and ran his hand along her waist until he felt the cool leather of her holster. Drawing the gun out, he slammed in into her hand. There was one thing Lee was certain about. He could not do this on his own. "Are you with me, Starbuck?"

At the sound of his voice, her glazed-over eyes focused. She watched him for a few seconds and then gave a small nod.

Lee grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet along with him. "I will get you through this, Kara."

"I know," she whispered. "I'll cry later."

Lee wished he could make the sadness in her voice go away right this instant, but he only bore the call sign of a god. Miracles were beyond his reach.

Knowing there was nothing else to do, Lee focused on pushing them forward as Kara laid down cover fire. They made it about a hundred yards before the gunfire of the Cylons had them pinned again. "We're not going to fraking make it," Lee heard someone yell.

He desperately wanted to tell them they were wrong. They were going to make it. Only Lee had no plan. He had no idea how to get them out of this. He needed Kara. She was the one to come up with the crazy out-of-the-box ideas that got them saved at the last moment.

Lee watched the skies light up orange as explosions started sounding all around them. People he had only known for a few short months were falling motionless to the ground right in front of his eyes. Lee could see the Chief trying desperately to rally everyone and having no success. They needed to keep moving.

There was a quick buzz in his ear followed by a sting. Lee lifted his hand up to his temple and was surprised when it came away covered in blood. His eyes fought to focus as his gaze drifted back to where his people were fighting.

Taylor was screaming at him from a few yards away. Lee was just wondering if he should respond when there was a loud blast, and Taylor's body was thrown forward a few feet. Lee watched his eyes come to a rest and then roll into the back of his head. Taylor's body slumped to the ground. All Lee could think was Taylor was supposed to be his XO before he chose to come down to New Caprica. He had a pregnant girlfriend and he wanted to build a real life with her. That meant there was another child out there somewhere who would be an orphan.

People were dying. Families were being broken. It was all his fault.

Kara's hand slipped quietly into his, and Lee turned to look at her. She was staring at him expectantly. She was waiting for him to come through on his promise. He was supposed to be keeping her safe.

His eyes scanned the forest. He could only see a few people. Chief. Barclay. Bauer. He had waited too long. Screaming as loud as he could, Lee dropped Kara's hand for just long enough to motion everyone to him. They had a good position here. There was enough cover to protect them from the gunshots so he could think a little.

"What do we do now, Commander?" The fear was tangible in Barclay's voice.

"We need to get out of this forest," Lee said, stating the obvious. "How's the ammunitions?"

"We have our guns, sir," Tyrol answered. "That's it."

Lee shook his head. "That's not good enough."

"What do you think, Starbuck?"

Lee winced at Bauer's words. He did not have time to be explaining how the young boy's hero was practically comatose because her husband, the love of her life, had just been shot down in front of her eyes.

"I think we should figure out who she is," Kara mumbled.

Lee turned to look at Kara and followed her pointed figure to see a blond woman dodging her way towards their position. He desperately wished he could say she didn't look familiar. Tyrol and Barclay both pointed their guns at the Six model and were about to shoot when Lee's eyes caught on something. "Don't!" he yelled.

"Sir?" Tyrol hissed, lowering his gun an inch.

Lee held up his hand for silence as he tried to get a better look at the woman running towards them. She was different from the others. Her hair was the same platinum blond, but it was cropped short against her face. In some sort of poetic irony, it reminded him of Kara. The Cylon's clothes were torn and her skin was smeared with blood and dirt. She looked like she had been through the same hell as the rest of Lee's people.

"Commander?"

Lee looked over at Kara. They both knew that this was it. They weren't getting out of this one. Smiling, she gave him a small nod and hugged her gun to her chest.

"Give the Cylon a chance," Lee whispered.

The woman dropped into the pit next to them and immediately turned to look at Kara. No one missed the look of admiration and awe that flashed across her face. "I've waited a long time to see you again, Kara Thrace."

"Who are you?" Kara asked.

"You can call me Eve. I'm here to help. I've always been here to help you."

Lee watched the Cylon reach her hand out to touch Kara, and something snapped. Grabbing his gun, he held up to Eve's temple. "Give me one fraking reason why I shouldn't shoot you dead right now!" he screamed.

"Lee Adama," Eve said as she turned to look at him. "I should have known you would be protecting her."

Lee clicked off the safety on his gun and continued to glare at her. "You're wasting time."

"Listen, you can trust me or not. I don't care. If you stay here, you will die. I can get you out."

"How?" Tyrol asked, moving a few inches closer.

"See that clearing over there? I have a transport. I can get you some distance from the Cylons."

"From your people, you mean," Barclay corrected.

Eve ignored the redhead's words and continued to stare at both Kara and Lee expectantly.

"It's just over there?" Lee asked. He needed a little more confirmation.

"You're not actually going to trust her?" Tyrol yelled.

The whole group ducked down as another round of explosions filled the air around them. "We don't have a choice, Chief. We're sitting ducks out here. I have no fraking clue how to fix that so we can either trust this machine or we can agree to go out in a blaze of glory."

"I promised Cally." Everyone turned to look at Kara again. Her eyes drifted vacantly towards Tyrol, and she smiled. "I promised I'd bring you back, Chief."

The words hung in the air around them until Lee made his decision. "Let's go, Eve."

Eve rolled out of the ditch and started at an all-out run. "Keep up. I'm fighting for my life, too, and I will leave you behind," she screamed. She was already pulling two guns from her jacket as she kept running. Two Centurions were gunned down immediately.

Lee helped Bauer out of the hole and handed him over to Barclay. He gave the Chief one last nod, and Tyrol was off and running, laying down cover fire for his two comrades. Lee turned to look at Kara. "Do you think you can do this?"

Kara nodded, but when she tried to get to her feet, her body crumpled. Lee was about to scold her for giving up on him when he saw a small patch of red spreading across her left thigh. "Kara?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Oops."

Lee didn't hesitate. There wasn't time for Kara to be brave and tell him he needed to leave her behind in order to get the rest to safety. Instead, he skipped right to the part where he locked her hands behind his neck and pulled her into the air. He had promises to keep, too.

Lee figured Kara would yell at him for being so stupid, but instead she just pulled farther within herself. That was when he knew he was in trouble. If she didn't yell at him, how was he supposed to figure out there was no way to fire at the Cylons when he was holding her in his arms? She was supposed to be his rationality in these situations. Though in the end, it wouldn't matter. If the Cylons were going to shoot him, they were going to shoot him. At least this way he could die the way he had always imagined. In a blaze of glory with Kara by his side.

He made it halfway to the transport before a Cylon got in a lucky shot. He could feel the pain flaring up his whole leg as the bullet lodged itself against the bone. It made his vision go red, but Lee refused to let himself lose focus.

Luckily, Eve had been partially lying when she said she would leave them behind. She did leave them behind when it came to reaching the transport, but that was all. Lee felt a small weight lift off his shoulders as he watched the tank of a car drive the short distance to pick them up. He slid Kara into the back seat and got in alongside with her.

"Make sure we get back to the base, Chief," Lee ordered. Without another word, he turned his attentions to Kara. He ripped off a piece of his shirt and tied it around the bullet wound on her thigh, ignoring the way she winced.

He wished he could say that the battle was over, but he had a feeling it was just beginning.

* * *

For those of you who either recognized the character of Eve or want a little backstory, just go to my old story Possibility: Allies. 


	9. Chapter 9

_Lee could hear the bombs exploding in the distance. The Cylons weren't letting up even though everyone else was dead. He felt so disconnected, almost as if he was floating above, watching the scene below. Moments in time were flashing in front of his eyes._

_His battle-worn body digging down deep to make it the last few yards._

_Kara's body in his arms, practically comatose._

_He's screaming. There's no sound._

_The pain in his leg flares. He ignores it._

_They're inside the bunker. Chief has Eve pressed against the wall. He's choking her._

_Eve's screaming about what she's had to go through. Caprica being destroyed from the bottom up. The man she loved dying. Her whole existence having no meaning._

_Barclay frantically locking the hatch. Pieces of metal being welded on._

_They weren't getting out again._

_The young boy, Bauer, is crying in the corner._

_Kara still isn't moving, and Lee's too tired to care._

_He's crumpling to the ground. He's finally giving up._

_Kara's not moving._

Lee shot up in his bunk, his heart racing out of control. His eyes flew wildly around the room until he got his bearings. Reality sunk back in.

All those things _had_ happened. It was just been eight months ago.

He rubbed his chin and realized it was about time he shaved again. These days, he tended to forget things like that. When you're locked into a resistance bunker and the food is probably going to run out in the next week or so and you still have no clue what the next move should be, the length of facial hair was not a priority.

Lee threw back the blankets and set his feet down on the solid ground. There was a small twinge in his leg from where he had been shot all those months earlier. Like every other day, he ignored the pain.

His eyes flew to the clock. Everyone would be up by now, and they'd all want to know if he had finally come up with some way to set them free. Standing up, Lee made his way over to the pile of clothes near his desk. It took him a few minutes to find something clean, but when he did, he slipped the tanks and pants on.

He flexed his arm without thought. He had no idea why the old gunshot wound had been flaring up on him recently. He kneaded the muscles in his shoulder with the knuckles of the opposite hand and sighed. It was actually nice to not have to hide this thing anymore. He had spent seven months keeping it under wraps on Pegasus and then three months down on the surface of New Caprica. It was nice to have it out there again. Giving one last stretch, Lee stepped out into the corridor and made his way down to the large hangar area.

Lee paused in the hatchway to get a feel for the remainder of his team before stepping into another day of keeping up the façade of false hope. Bauer and Barclay were playing a makeshift game of pyramid. Over the past eight months, Jean had been slowly teaching the boy how to take the most effective shot possible. Bauer couldn't even hit the goal from two feet away when they started.

The Chief was checking some of the outer defense measures they had left in place before abandoning the facility to be rescued in that stupid clearing. Lee hated what this solitude had done to Tyrol. The man missed his wife and children. All he wanted to do was get back to them, and instead he was stuck here. He had put his sense of duty in front of his own family, and the gods were punishing him. These days, Tyrol spent almost every waking hour checking their defenses to see if they would hold. He was bordering on obsession.

Eve was sitting at a table the others had dragged into the hangar on the day Lee challenged Barclay to a game of one-on-one pyramid. That was back when they still clung to the hope that things would work themselves out.

The Cylon was watching the room as if she was waiting for something to occur. If Lee didn't know better, he would think she was waiting for the inevitable ambush that everyone knew was coming.

Lee had gone on instinct when he called out the order to follow Eve. From the first moment he spoke to her, there had been something about Eve that made Lee trust her. It had taken him a few months to realize the full extent of what that was. In more ways than one, Eve reminded him of Kara. Not the Kara who was with him today. The Kara who fought her way through the guilt and shame of losing Zak.

It didn't take long after that realization for Lee to start calling Eve his friend.

It also helped when she told him the story about how she saved Kara from the farms back on Caprica. She had lost most of her team that day, but Eve still maintained that she made the right call. If for nothing else than that fact, Lee would have accepted her.

Lee pushed off the hatchway and made his way over to the table. "Good morning," he grumbled, sliding into the seat next to Eve.

"I'd offer you coffee, Commander, but I think we ran out five months ago."

"Six," Lee corrected as he kicked his feet up on a nearby crate. "And gods do I miss it."

"Any new thoughts on how to get out of here alive?" Eve asked, turning to look at him.

"No."

"Any thoughts on the other problem?"

"No."

"It's been eight months. Don't you think it's time-"

"No," Lee said.

Eve watched him for a moment before narrowing her eyes. "All right. I see you don't want to talk about her."

Lee turned back to watch Bauer slide past Barclay to slam the pyramid ball into the goal. The kid really was getting good. Barclay had stopped letting him win ages ago.

"It's odd."

Lee turned to look at Eve again. Like always, she was staring at him as if she could see right to his heart. "What's odd?"

"I feel safe with you lot. I'm nothing more than a machine to you, and yet this is the first time in a long while that I've actually felt safe."

"Well, you did quite a bit for us that day. It's the least we can do to give you a false sense of security. I mean, we were all dead before you came along. "

Eve sighed and looked down at her hands. "See? You say things like that, Lee, and it starts to make me feel like shit because there are still things I haven't told you."

Lee knew in a different time and place it would make him nervous to know his Cylon ally was still holding back on him, but he trusted Eve. "Like what?"

"I told you about Adam."

Lee smirked. "You told me that I remind you of him."

"You do remind me of him in a lot of ways, Lee." Eve let out a long sigh and then smiled. "I didn't even know what love was until I met Adam. He was the one that saved me when I needed it, and after that, he was just always there. He took a bullet for me."

Lee nodded. He could understand that kind of devotion. "You've told me all this before."

"I know I have. It's just I never really explained who Adam was. I was afraid."

"Eve, I know he was a Cylon. I don't care."

"No, Lee, you do care." Eve bit her bottom lip. "He was a Leoben model."

Lee felt his heart start to speed up automatically when she said Leoben's name. It had been that way since he was tortured by the machines. "I see."

"I know I should have told you. I mean, you didn't hold back when it came to talking about what he did to you and Kara. I should have trusted you, but I don't know. I just couldn't believe you would still let me stay knowing… knowing that in a lot of ways, I loved the man who caused you so much pain."

Lee reached across the table to grab Eve's hand. "It doesn't matter, Eve. If I can learn to trust you and this Adam was the one who taught you to fight your programming the way you do, then I can believe he wasn't the same as the machine who tortured me."

"Thank you, Lee. That means a lot to me."

Lee gave her a small shrug and turned back to the hangar. This time his eyes landed on the Chief. Tyrol looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. Lee wondered if there was a way he could convince him to take a break.

"I think I know a way to get us out of here."

Lee tried to keep his mouth from dropping open as he turned to look at Eve. "What?"

"It's something I've been playing with for the last few weeks. I wasn't sure if I should suggest it. It would mean you putting your life into my hands completely."

"Not a problem," Lee said without hesitating.

"It would mean you putting Kara's life into my hands, too." Eve smiled when she saw Lee hesitate. "That's what I thought. You are so transparent sometimes, Lee. Does she know how much you love her?"

Lee's eyes fell to his tattoo. "I thought it would be obvious."

"It is." Eve took a deep breath and straightened up in her seat. "This is going to be risky. That's the main reason why I've never brought it up before."

"Don't leave me in suspense now."

"I think I can contact your Sharon. The one on Galactica."

Lee decided he would probably offend Eve by asking if she was out of her fraking mind so he went with his second question. "How?"

"The wires from the defense system. I think you've seen your Sharon dial in with something similar on Galactica. It would only take thirty seconds."

"But…"

"But the defense systems would be down for good."

"So we'd be sitting ducks to the Cylons if they found out?"

"Not if, Lee. When." Eve sighed. "I'd be dialing in to an open channel that any Cylon could pick up. They'll know where we are."

"And what's to keep them from knowing about the rescue attempt?"

"That's where you come in. I need you to give me something to say to Sharon that will tell her where and when without alerting any eavesdroppers to the plan."

Lee stared at Eve for a few moments before lowering his head into his hands.

"We're running out of food," Eve gently reminded him. "We're going to have to make a move soon, and I can't figure out a better way. I didn't want to do this, Lee. I was completely lost when I stumbled onto intel about your little group eight months ago. I came to help you as soon as I could." Eve paused to watch Barclay stuff a goal past Bauer. "You five have become my family when I wasn't looking. I didn't want to risk any of you, but it has to be done. If you ever want to see your father again, Lee, we have to do this."

Lee rubbed his face before sniffing and sitting up straight. "You're right."

"I am?"

"This is our only option." Lee stood up and smiled at her. "Would you give me a day before we tell the others? There's one thing I have to do before we make our last stand."

Eve nodded. "That's fine. I'll get my thoughts together, try to map out the specifics. I'm only going to give you until the morning, though. We can't put this off."

Lee squeezed her shoulder as he walked around the table. "That's harsh but fair. Thank you, Eve." He paused to give Bauer a wave before stepping out into the corridors. This whole place seemed so empty now. It had been overwhelming for the first few months, but now it was just sad. He could remember chasing Kara up and down these halls when they went for their daily runs. This was the place where the Chief first told him that Cally was pregnant again when the Pegasus and Galactica made their rescue attempt. In this very corridor, Kara had held his hands as he made the first few hesitant steps after healing from the wounds Leoben inflicted.

Now it all felt hollow to him.

Lee stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall. His eyes ran over the door frame and stopped on a spot that was at eye level. There were several dents where the paint had been worn completely off. Lee looked down at his still healing knuckles and wondered just how often he had attacked that spot after another day of failures.

He was tired of not being able to bring her back.

Lee let out a deep breath and knocked softly on the door. When, like always, there was no response, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Kara was where she always was, curled up in a ball on her bunk. Her hair, which had grown to shoulder length in the past eight months, was matted down. Lee hadn't been able to convince her to come into the showers with him for the past few days. She was wearing the sweats he had brought from his own personal stash a few weeks ago, and she looked comfortable. Lee hoped to the gods she was comfortable.

"Hey," he whispered, letting the door click shut.

Kara continued to stare at the wall. Like every day he came to her, the familiar feeling of inadequacy crept up on Lee. He had always harbored this secret belief that no matter what happened, whether it was to him or to Kara, they would always be able to pull each other back. Yet here he stood in front of one extremely broken woman, a woman he came to each and every day, relentlessly begging her to let go of whatever demons she was grasping, and he was failing. Miserably.

Lee's eyes fell on the pair of running shoes on the floor near her bunk, and he let out a deep sigh. She had been out for a run again last night. "These runs have to stop, Kara." He took a seat at the end of the bed. "They're not good for you."

Kara finally turned to look at him. "How can running be bad, Lee?"

"When you only do it in the dead of the night because no one will be around," he replied.

"You're around."

"Only because these days I don't really sleep that much." Lee's eyes dropped to the floor. They both knew he was lying. He slept just fine at night. It was _on purpose_ that he met Kara in the halls whenever she popped out for a run. He would hear the sound of her door opening from across the hall and rush to put on his own shoes so he wouldn't miss her. Lee didn't like the idea of Kara running around this place alone. The Cylons could show up at any minute.

Kara set her chin down on the tops of her knees and stared at the wall.

"Kara, I need you to look at me," Lee said slowly.

Kara's eyes darted up to his face for the briefest of seconds and then she was back to the wall. She was making vast improvements every day, but Lee still couldn't figure out how to get her to look him in the eye for longer than it took him to blink. He had no clue why she seemed so guilty when it came to him.

Lee reached out to tip Kara's chin up and wasn't surprised when she gasped and pulled away from his touch. It was what she always did. That's how he knew how far gone she still was. The Kara of about a year ago would know how much it hurt to feel her shrink back from him.

'I've done something stupid," Lee said, leaning back against the bottom of the bunk, "and I'm scared."

Kara reacted to him just like he knew she would. Lee never admitted to being scared. He never admitted to weakness, to not being in control. People had been looking to him for strength since the second he got marooned on Galactica during the initial attacks. Saying he was scared was like saying the Cylons were going to exterminate humanity and there was nothing that could be done to change that. It simply wasn't done.

Her hand came out to tentatively rest on his in the only show of support she had been able to manage these eight months. Asking for more would only push her to retreat farther within herself.

"Eve came up with a way to get us home. It was something she's been tossing around for awhile, but it was too dangerous for her to suggest until now." Lee sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. "You see, we're running out of food. In about a week, we're going to start starving. I did not fight this hard just to fade away. I think Eve knew that which is why she finally suggested her plan."

Lee paused and wondered if maybe this wasn't too much to be putting on Kara's shoulders. He had been awfully selfish with her for years, and he was getting tired of the way she let him do it. Kara's hand tightened around his, and he figured that was as good of a sign as any. "Eve wants to hook into the defense systems of the bunker in order to contact Sharon. She thinks she can get a message through to the Old Man." Lee could feel his heart pounding and wondered if it was really as loud as it felt. "The machines will be on top of this bunker within minutes, Kara. If Eve does this, we're going to have to move fast. We won't be able to hide anymore after this last ditch effort. We're going to have to fight and hope salvation is on its way."

Kara's hand fell from his, and Lee turned to see that she was facing the wall. He had lost her attention again. Most days it went like this. He would talk to her, and for a moment, she would respond. Then whatever thoughts were in her head would take over and she would be lost to him.

"No," Lee said firmly. He reached out and pulled Kara's upper body off the mattress. "You cannot do this to me today, Kara."

"You're hurting me," Kara whispered, staring at him in awe.

Lee wished he could relax his hold, but there just wasn't time. He had done gentle. Gentle didn't work. If he really thought about it, gentle had _never_ worked when it came to Kara. Maybe he should have done this months earlier. "It's time to stop this, Kara. You can't just waste away anymore."

"Let me go."

The soft loneliness in her words chewed him up inside. Kara had never given up before. Through all the traumas in her childhood and the disasters in her adulthood, she never fell this far. She had come dangerously close during those few weeks they were hunting Scar, but something pulled her back. Lee wished he could say it was him.

Even then, she hadn't been like _this_. She had been drunk all the time, flying her patrols with no concern for her own life, forgetting there were people out there worried sick for the person she was becoming. She had been loud and boisterous, quiet and introspective, open and cynical. Through it all, she was always something.

Lee didn't know how to deal with her being nothing.

"I need you, Kara," he whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek. He refused to let her pull away. "I don't tell you that often enough. I rely on you being there, and if we're going to do this, I need you."

"Don't," Kara choked out. Her eyes were wide with fear, but there were no tears in sight.

Lee couldn't help but wonder what it would take to make her feel again. "Are you even in there anymore?" he wondered softly. Kara stared blankly back at him. "Do you remember what you said to me that day I left you on New Caprica?" His hands came out to cup her face. "Do you remember what you left me with?"

Something flashed across her face, but he could see Kara shoving it back down almost immediately. Therein lied the problem. She didn't want to come back to him. She just wanted to die. It was the kind of thing she didn't have to say. He just knew she didn't want to feel the pain anymore. "I think about that day, Kara. I think about it a lot."

"No," she hissed. She started struggling to pull away from him, and this time Lee let her. She scurried to the other end of the bunk and covered her ears.

Lee sighed and stood up from the bunk. He waited until Kara's curiosity won out. That was the one thing he knew he had when it came to her. He would come into the room, and she would always shift ever so slightly at his presence. She noticed him. That was the only thing that kept his hope up.

She didn't care for anything else, but she seemed to care when he showed up.

Lee whispered a silent prayer to the gods to help him get through to her. Through the past eight months, he had kept himself from this point on purpose. He wanted her to chose to come back to him. He didn't want to force it.

Time was up.

He had to roll the hard six.

Lee slid his jacket off and, grasping the hem of his tanks, lifted them over his head. He saw Kara's eyes break away at the sight of his bare chest, and he knew this wasn't going to be enough. He was going to have to push it to the next level. He was going to have to hurt her.

He got down into the bunk and reached out to grip the bottom of Kara's sweatshirt. She lashed out at him immediately, but Lee knew it was mostly instinct. Kara was not the kind of girl who liked to be touched when she wasn't on top of her game. "Settle down."

"No," Kara hissed as Lee gripped her clothes more firmly.

It didn't take long for Lee to wrestle Kara down onto the bunk. She had lost her will to fight him months earlier. It was the one thing he would have sworn she would always have, and yet here it was in front of his eyes. The weight of his body was pressing her down on the mattress, and she was just staring up at him with no emotion in her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Lee whispered. It was true in a way. What he was about to do wouldn't hurt her _physically_. It would only hurt her in every other way imaginable.

He slowly slid the sweatshirt over her head and threw it to the ground. His eyes raked across her skin, and he could feel the desire flare up inside of him. He couldn't let it control him. There was something more important needing to be done, something that went beyond how much he wanted her.

He let go of his hold on her body in order to trace the lines of the tattoo on her arm. Her skin was still as soft as he remembered. It surprised him when he felt her own hands mimicking his. It surprised him and yet it didn't. He had always known this was the only chance he had of bringing her back. He just hadn't been brave enough before to do it. He hadn't had the courage to risk it not working. "You can't just leave me like this, Kara."

"Lee."

"It's not fair," he whispered. "I need you with me if I'm going to do this."

"Please."

"I…" Lee's voice faltered. This wasn't working. He didn't know what he could say to make this better. He didn't know how to fix her. This wasn't working. "We lost each other once, Kara. Do you remember? I went back to Pegasus and you stayed down here. It killed me inside to know it was my duty that pulled us apart."

"Stop."

"This tattoo was a daily reminder of what I gave up."

Lee saw something flicker in her eyes but knew he dare not hope he was starting to get through to her. "It's happening again. I can feel the distance growing every day we're down in this bunker. I… I can't lose you, Kara. I can't let you slip away, but I don't know how to fix you." Lee ran his hand along her cheek. "I hate the fact that I'm not strong enough to make this better. I used to think that whatever happened as long as we had each other, we could work through it. Then life got fraked up and took me with it. Things broke. I tried to fix them, and yet I couldn't. I couldn't fix this. I try and I try, but I can't make it better. And it kills me. It straight out kills me. You're sitting there in pain, and I don't know how to make it go away. For the first time in my life, I feel powerless. And if you're gone, Kara, if I lose you, then that's it. I can't survive something like that. If you're gone… if you let go, then I really do have nothing. If you give up, everything I am, everything I want to be, it will mean nothing. _I _will mean nothing."

He waited for Kara to say something, anything, but she stayed silent. That was when he knew he had failed. For the last time, he had failed her.

Lee felt the tears stinging his eyes as he let go of his hold on her. He had tried. That was all he could do. He had nothing left to give her. "I can't be empty anymore, Kara." He rested his head in his hands and surrendered himself to the dull silence of his disappointment.

"Don't."

Lee's head darted up to see Kara biting her lip. Her shaking hand came out to wipe the tears off his cheek, and for the first time in a long while, Lee could see the emotion on her face. She looked scared. Scared and vulnerable and determined and soft and real. "What…" His words faded off as Kara moved herself close to him. Her frail body folded right into his.

"I'm… I'm sorry." Her words were muffled into his chest, but he still heard them.

Lee wrapped his arms around her as he felt her body begin to shake. Her nails dug into his skin as she clung to him. The wetness of her fallen tears coated his tattooed shoulder. This was the first time Kara had cried since losing her husband. Yet it was more than that.

She was crying for Anders. She was crying for losing her love, and yet Lee knew that the emotion was too great for it to be just about that. These weren't solely tears of mourning. They were tears of guilt and mourning and turmoil. They were tears for what the Cylons had taken from her, for what the Cylons did to her. They were tears of regret for not getting to Lee in time, for letting the Cylons do to him what they had done to her. They were tears to deal with the reality that they might not be rescued, that this might just be the end for them.

Lee held on as eight months of sorrow washed over her and thanked the gods when she shifted herself into his lap. She was reaching out for him. This was what he had waited two-hundred fifty-three days for.

Eventually, Kara pushed herself away from him, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. He watched in awe as she stood up and walked across the room. There was a familiar strut to the way she moved. It was something he hadn't seen in so long.

Kara rifled through her desk and, finding what she was looking for, made her way back to Lee.

"Kara?" he said hesitantly.

"I'm done, Lee. I'm done."

Lee stared at the scissors she was holding out for him to take and then looked back up at her face.

Kara was smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

Lee pulled his jacket on as he stepped into the hangar bay. When Bauer, Tyrol, and Barclay caught sight of him, they all leaped to their feet and threw off salutes. He wasn't surprised to see them shifting back into military protocol. Eve had told him she'd give him until the morning and that was it. They knew what was coming, and they knew that they didn't need Lee to lead them through it. They needed Commander Adama. They needed Apollo.

"Sir," Tyrol said, stepping forward. "We're actually going to do this?"

Lee was surprised at the question, but at the same time, he wasn't shocked to hear it. His eyes shifted to where Eve sat by herself on the other side of the room. She looked worried. "Do you think she's going to stab us in the back?" Lee asked. He had already come to a decision on this topic, but regardless of how much he trusted Eve, he couldn't be sure the others were at the same point.

Tyrol shook his head. "I trust her, sir. It's just… if this doesn't happen exactly right, then that's it. We're all dead."

"I know." Lee gave the Chief a smile. "Trust me, though. We're going to make it through this one." His smile widened as Eve got up to join the group. "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Lee nodded and let out a deep breath. "Thank you for doing this for us, Eve. I'll make sure my father knows what you've done when we get back home."

"Lee Adama, you sound awfully confident," Eve teased.

Lee saw the rest of his crew nodding their heads in agreement and had to fight back the urge to smile even wider.

"What is make you so fraking confident, sir?" Tyrol finally asked.

Lee heard a movement behind him, and his eyes lit up. He knew that sound. Turning, he smiled. "Her."

Kara stood in the hatchway, looking not one bit like she had just spent the past eight months holed up in a room away from everyone else. She was dressed in her military fatigues once more with her guns securely strapped to her waist. Her hair was the short cut Lee had first seen when she rescued him from Leoben. Her mouth was turned up in that trademark Starbuck grin.

"We are going to kick the Cylons' ass," Tyrol agreed as Lee's wide grin became contagious.

Kara smiled and walked over to the group. "Glad to hear I still have your confidence, Chief."

"Never lost it, Captain."

"Lee's told me the plan. For a we're all going to die anyway last ditch effort, it's pretty good." Kara turned to look at Eve. "Lee says you've been a good little toaster… I mean, soldier."

Lee turned to smile at Eve and had to hold back the urge to laugh. Confident, cocky Eve who never backed down on what she believed looked terrified. "Kara," he warned, turning to his best friend.

"Sorry." Kara smiled at the Cylon. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Eve. You've earned Lee's approval and respect, and that's all I need to know. He's a good judge of character…" Her mind flew to the few months after the Blackbird was blown up and how Lee had started acting. "…usually."

"So, we're really going to do this?" Barclay asked.

"Frak yeah we are," Kara said.

"Then what's the plan, sir?" Tyrol asked.

"Exactly what Eve laid out," Lee answered. "She's going to tap into our defense systems in the hopes of finding a connection to the Cylon mainframe. This place was abandoned for a few months before it became the base of the resistance. We're hoping the Cylons poked around a bit."

"They're curious beings. They were here," Eve reassured them.

Kara stared at her a moment before rolling her eyes. Lee had warned her this would be strange at first, but this was almost beyond her comprehension. She had no clue why she always ended up working with a renegade Cylon, but the way they spoke was really starting to creep her out. "Right. So Eve's going to do her Cylon mojo thing and get a message to the Old Man. Then we are going to run like hell."

"To where?" Tyrol asked.

Lee smiled. "To the last place the Cylons would think we would go."

Kara turned to Eve. "I need you to tell Sharon to have Admiral Adama send a Raptor to the only place his daughter ever felt truly at home on New Caprica."

"That's it?"

Kara turned to Lee and smiled. "That's it."

Lee's hand unconsciously rose to rub the shoulder that had his tattoo on it. He hoped to the gods his father remembered the conversation they had had about what Lee did on his two week vacation to New Caprica. He also hoped the Old Man was about to read between the lines and figure out what _really_ happened during those two weeks.

"I want that panel cut off before Eve does her thing. We are making a clean getaway as soon as this shit is done."

Lee snapped back to attention as he realized Kara was still rattling off orders. Gods, it was good to have her back. He watched as Barclay and Chief started working on breaking open the welded hatch. Eve made her way to the defense system console and unscrewed the panel. Lee couldn't help but notice the way she looked at the screwdriver before nodding. An image of how exactly she would have to start the dialing in process popped into his head, and he flinched. Eve was willing to take on a lot of pain for them right now, and Lee hated the fact that there was nothing he could do or say to make that better.

"Do you think…" Lee and Kara both turned to see Bauer was still standing next to them. "Do you guys think anyone is really going to risk coming back for the six of us?"

Kara laid her hand on Bauer's shoulder and smiled. "That's the beauty of this plan, kid. We're sending a message straight to the Old Man. And not just any old message either. This one is screaming in his face that one of his children is alive. The only people who would send a message like we're having Eve do is Lee or I."

"But he'd be putting so many people in danger."

"Not really," Lee interjected. "If you think about it, my father is risking one, maybe two, pilots and a single Raptor. That is not that huge pf a loss if it might mean getting his son or his daughter back. We don't want or need the whole Fleet to come back here."

"Plus, if he lets the crew known that it's a mission to save either Lee or I, someone will volunteer," Kara added. "The Fleet has a soft spot for the two of us."

Bauer nodded. "So if this whole plan thing works, then we're saved?"

"Guaranteed. If Eve can get that message off to the right person, all we have to do is sit back and wait," Kara assured the young boy. "Now why don't you make yourself useful? I think the Chief needs some help with that panel."

Bauer gave a quick salute and hustled across the hangar. "Now that's some enthusiasm," Lee laughed.

"I train my soldiers well."

Lee reached out to take Kara's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How are you doing?"

"I'm not going to lie and say this is easy. Almost every ounce of me wants to go running back to that bunkroom so I can just curl up and forget the world."

"And what about the rest of your ounces?"

The edge of Kara's mouth turned up in a wry grin. "The rest know how much you need me and would rather die than disappoint you."

Lee pulled Kara into his arms and kissed the top of her head. He really didn't know what to say to her. Words didn't seem to be able to cover it.

"I'm going to be okay," Kara stated. Her voice sounded shaky, and Lee wondered if she was asking or telling.

"You are," he reassured her. "Because when push comes to shove, you get the job done. Plus, when we're back on Galactica, I have some connections. I think I can work out a little vacation time for you."

Kara smiled. "Can the Commander of Pegasus come with me?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him when we get back."

Kara laughed and moved her hands around Lee's waist. "Do you think the Old Man will be happy to see me?"

Lee rolled his eyes. "I am not going to dignify that question with a response."

Still locked together, Kara and Lee turned to watch the other four work. It seemed like Tyrol, Barclay, and Bauer were already almost finished, and Eve was just standing still, staring at the open wires in front of her. The time was at hand.

"Lee?" Lee looked down at Kara and saw a vaguely familiar look of worry on her face. "There's something I need to know before we do this."

"Ask me anything," Lee replied.

"When you offered me a place as the CAG on Pegasus, were you joking?"

Lee stared at her for a moment as the memory of that day played through his mind. They had been outside the perimeter of the resistance's hideaway, checking to make sure the defense grid was still functioning. Kara asked him how the frak she was going to adjust to being in the military again, and Lee told her it wouldn't be that hard. She looked so afraid when she started talking about being in the air again after so long that Lee did the only thing he could think of to ease her mind. He told her that she had nothing to prove and that he was going to need a new CAG when they got back to the Fleet. He didn't want just any old person either. He wanted the best which meant that anytime she wanted it, the job of Pegasus CAG was hers. At the time, Kara had laughed at his offer. What Lee didn't realize was she must have thought he was joking.

"I was dead serious, Kara. I've been missing you since the moment I took the Commander position. My life isn't half as interesting when you're not in it. You say the word and I'll fight the Old Man to get you reassigned."

"I don't think you two should argue over _me_."

Lee smiled. "I meant a real fight, Kara I think it's going to take a sparring match between my dad and I to determine who gets to keep you."

"Gods, you two treat me like a toy or something."

"Not just any toy," Lee insisted. "You are my favorite toy."

Kara slapped him on the arm and was about to tell him that she was no one's toy when Eve's voice cut into their little interlude. "I'm ready to go."

Lee let go of Kara and looked over at the Chief. "The hatch?"

"It's open, Lee," the Chief said, standing up and stretching.

"Weapons?" Kara asked.

"We're carrying the last bit we have," Barclay said.

"Ammo is scarce, people," Kara reminded them. "If you decide to shoot something, hit it on the first shot or do not fire at all."

"What's the plan?" Tyrol asked, walking over to where the rest of the group stood.

"Eve is going to plug herself in and send a message," Lee explained. "Hopefully, we can get that to happen in under a minute. As soon as she's disconnected, we are out that door."

"Do not slow down. Do not look back," Kara warned. "We are going full steam until we hit the children's playground on the edge of the city. When we get there, we need to locate a place to bunker down until the Old Man sends the Raptor to get us. I'm thinking two weeks is a pretty good estimate, so we're going to need to make scarce for awhile after we get there."

"The playground, though?" Bauer said, rolling his eyes. "That's where you're going to tell the Admiral to look for us?"

"The Cylons will never see it coming," Lee insisted. "If they know we're on the run, they're going to expect us to head back to the clearing or into New Delphi where there might be more ammunition and rations. They won't look for us at the playground for at least a little while. Hopefully, that will be a little while too long."

"We're going to hide," Kara admitted, "and that's something I've never been proud to do, but it's what's going to keep us alive. This isn't about showing the Cylons that we're not going down without a fight and it isn't about proving that we're a superior force. It's about staying alive and ending this so we can finally rest."

Lee could see the others nodding in agreement, and he figured that was enough for the inspirational speech giving. "Are you ready, Eve?"

"Are you?" she spit back.

Lee smirked at her and then watched the plan go into motion.

Eve let out a small scream as she jabbed the screwdriver into the flat of her hand and dragged it up her forearm. The pain was written all over her face, but she didn't falter, not even for a second. She used the blood-stained screwdriver to slice the comm cable that controlled the defense system and jabbed one end straight into her wrist. Gritting her teeth, she feed the cable into her arm until it was over halfway up her forearm. Then her face went white and she sunk down to the ground.

Lee could hear her whispering something as she searched for the right mind in the network. He hoped to god that Sharon hadn't done something stupid like disconnecting herself from the whole.

Eve's eyes flew open after a minute, and she smiled. "Gotcha." Five seconds later, she was ripping the cord from her arm.

Lee helped her to her feet. He wrapped a shirt around the wound and guided her other hand to hold it into place. "Do not let up on that," he instructed. "You've just earned your passage to Pegasus, and I will not have it be in a body bag."

"Stop flirting and get your ass in gear, Adama!"

Lee turned to see Kara smirking at him from outside the open hatch. The rest of the group was already gone. "Eve?"

"They're going to be here within two minutes," she said. "We need to hurry."

Lee didn't need to be told twice. Kara helped get Eve out of the hatch without jarring her arm too much, and then the group was off and running.

They didn't slow down. They didn't look back.


	11. Chapter 11

Kara woke up screaming.

Every day for the past week, she woke up screaming.

Why should today be any different?

Her thigh was throbbing. She kept seeing flashes of the bullet going in and the bullet going out. Her vision filled with a blinding red.

It took her a moment to focus on what was reality and what was stuck in her head. She was laying on the cold dirt ground of New Caprica with only a few fallen branches to shield her from the outside. That had been the first order of business when they made it to the playground. They made sure they could survive in this area, that if the Cylons attacked, they could defend themselves. They found shelter. They found whatever food they could. They waited. According to Lee's estimate, they were halfway there.

Kara's hand came out to feel the ground next to her, and she was surprised when she only hit dirt. For seven days, she had woke up screaming from the nightmares of her life, and for seven days, Lee had been there to help her calm down.

She had calmed herself down for a few seconds after getting her bearings and realizing the pain in her thigh was from a gunshot that happened months earlier, but the calm was already starting to fade. Where was Lee? Had the Cylons come? Was she all alone again?

Kara's hands blindly reached for some sort of purchase. When she found it, she pulled herself off the ground and practically fell out of the small lean-to she and Lee had been calling home. Her eyes went wide as she came inches from barreling into a tree. Luckily, a strong pair of hands pulled her back at the last second. Kara looked up to see the smiling face of Lee Adama.

"Where were you?" she asked, her voice demanding even though she knew she had no right to be.

Lee's smile faltered, replaced by a look of guilt. "Bauer cut himself on a branch. It needed stitches, and Tyrol thought I was the most likely person to keep the kid calm while he got sewed up with no pain killers. If I had thought for one second you'd wake up while I was gone, I wouldn't have left."

"I needed you," Kara whispered, tightening her hold on him.

"I'm sorry."

The sound of a throat clearing made Kara look away. Barclay and Eve were standing a few feet away.

"Did you need something?" Lee asked.

"We're running out of food, sir, and the amount of ammunition we have is laughable," Barclay said quickly. "We just wanted to address the issue before it's too late. The Cylons can come at any minute, and we might not be able to fight back if we're weak and weaponless."

"What are you suggesting?"

"That's the problem," Eve chimed in. "We're not suggesting anything. We have no clue what to do."

"The Chief said that Kara was famous for her out of the box thinking," Barclay added. "We just thought…"

"I don't think Kara's up to it right now."

"I'm fine," Kara said, pulling away from him. When he gave her an skeptical look, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Do not mother me, Lee. I'm fine."

She could see that Lee still didn't believe her, but he did step back to lean up against a tree. Smiling, he waved at her to go ahead.

"I've been throwing this idea around in my mind for a few days now," Kara said. "I think we can get what we need with relative ease by going back into the city."

"No," Lee said, shaking his head vehemently. "We are not leaving this compound. It's too risky."

"I thought of that. The only way this could work is if both you and I go together." She put her hands over Lee's mouth before he could start protesting again. "If both you and I aren't here when the Old Man sends the rescue party, no one's going anywhere. Because of the message we sent, he knows one of us is alive. I'd be willing to bet my life that he tells whoever pilots that Raptor that they are not to return without you or I being on board."

Kara's lips slid up into a smile when she paused and Lee still didn't say a word. He always did like to quietly go along with her crazy schemes. She was surprised no one noticed that charming personality trait except her. "There's a few places in the city where I can get my hands on ammunition and rations leftover from when we first settled the planet and didn't have a fresh source of food. We'll be back by evening."

"Commander?"

Lee turned to nod at Barclay. "She's right. We need ammo, and the two of us have the best chance of getting it."

"Don't you think we're risking a lot?"

Eve's eyes locked with Lee, and she put a hand on Barclay's shoulder. "It's not our place to question. If Lee and Kara think this needs to be the way things go, then that's it. Why don't you and I go check and see how Bauer's doing?"

Barclay threw one last look of concern over her shoulder before following Eve back to where the others were camped. Lee waited until everyone was out of sight before turning to her. "Okay. Tell me what that was really about."

Kara sighed. "I want my things, Lee. I want my dogtags. I want my sketchbook. I don't want to let those fraking machines take away all the things I love."

Lee reached out and grasped Kara's hand. "Now there's the Kara logic I've grown accustomed to."

"You're okay with this?"

"We _are _still picking up food and ammo, right?"

"They're in my tent," Kara assured him.

"Then, yeah, if going back to your home is what you need to move on, that's what we'll do."

Kara let go of Lee's hands in order to disappear into the make-shift shelter. She emerged a few minutes later in full gear and looking a lot more focused than when he had first stumbled upon her frantic self. "You know that I don't need you to come with me."

Lee nodded. He knew that whole Old Man's orders to the Raptor pilot idea was complete bullshit on her part. Lee didn't have to go with Kara to insure the Raptor didn't leave her behind. In fact, the only thing that would insure the ship didn't leave New Caprica without her would be his staying behind. Lee would never set foot off this planet with Kara. He knew without asking that it was the same for her. They were in this together.

What all that meant was she wanted him to come with her into New Caprica City but not for the reasons she told Eve and Barclay.

"I… I need to say goodbye, Lee," Kara said as they started making their way towards the city streets. "I can't leave this place without saying goodbye."

"Don't worry," Lee reassured her. "I'm with you."

Kara let out a deep breath and smiled. "Yeah, I know."

They began walking in relative silence. Every few minutes, Kara would point out something familiar. It was more of a way to calm her nerves than a need to give Lee an idea of the world she used to live in. There were a few stories she told about the resistance, but that was the extent of their conversation. None of it really touched on the hard issues.

Kara paused slightly at the entrance of her tent, and Lee moved forward to rest his hand on the base of her spine. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, biting back the urge to run. It was exactly as she had left it the day she and Anders decided the resistance had to go into hiding.

"You know sometimes I used to wonder how my life would have been different if you chose to settle down here with the rest of us." Kara looked back to see Lee struggling for words and smiled. "I know you would never shy away from your duty as Commander, but I always thought what if."

Lee took a seat in the same chair he had occupied almost two years earlier. He couldn't believe it had been that long. "I could tell you exactly what it would have been like." Kara raised an eyebrow in interest and Lee chuckled. "I would have the tent next door. You and I would be permanent fixtures at whatever sort of bar was set up on the planet, triad tables included. On Fridays, after your art lessons with the children, Laura would have me join you and we would give the children a history lesson about the sacrifices already made in the second Cylon war. I would be running interference between the civilian government and the military considering I'm probably the only person who would have the nerve to punch President Baltar when he's being a dick."

Kara slapped her hands over her mouth to keep the laughter inside. What Lee was saying bordered on insubordination, but it was so fraking right on.

"Most of all, I'd be relaxing. I'd finally be able to breathe without wondering if more responsibility was going to be placed on my shoulders." Lee sighed. "And I would devote my life to spending as much time with you as your husband would allow because damnit, Kara, I missed you more than I ever thought humanly possible."

Kara paused in riffling through one of the bins below her bed and popped her head up to look at Lee. "Wow."

"Not what you were thinking?"

Kara's face went red. She shook her head quickly and ducked down to start digging through her things again.

"What _were _you thinking?" Lee said, kicking his feet up.

"It's nothing. Pretty much the same as what you just said," Kara replied without pause.

"Bullshit. You know you can't lie to me, Kara. I see right through it."

Kara sighed and sat up, giving Lee a nice glare. "I never said this was a conscious thought, okay?"

Lee nodded. He didn't care what this was. He just wanted to know what the frak could be making her feel so embarrassed.

"I had a few reoccurring dreams when Anders and I first settled down on the planet. We were going through a rough patch with the transition and everything, and I guess I was worried I had made the wrong choice. I started thinking… well, what if things had gone differently? What if… what if you hadn't let me go? What if you came with me?"

"And the answer?"

Kara smirked. "Well, let's just say that in my dreams, I was not a faithful wife and you were definitely not the responsible, by-the-book Commander we both know."

"That bad?"

"That good," Kara laughed. "It was one of the reasons I pressed Anders to find a permanent place for us to live. I had these vivid dreams that pretty much ruined every single inch of our temporary residence. I would be talking to Anders over the dinner table, and it would trigger a memory of the dream I had the night before. Try looking your spouse in the eye when all you can see is your face wrapped up in raw, naked desire for another man. I swear, you had me on every inch of my place. I had to get out."

"Oh gods, Kara," Lee said, struggling not to laugh. "You really do like to make situations more fraked-up than they ever need be."

"Shut up!" Kara threw a couple gun clips at Lee which he easily caught. "Grab a pack. They're by your feet."

Lee pushed the chair he was leaning back in to ground and reached down to slip the ammo into a bag. For the next few minutes, the tent filled with silence as Kara kept digging around. She stopped every few seconds to toss him more rounds which he promptly put into the bag.

Kara stood up and walked to her cupboard. "There's not much in here. Some noodles, a few packs of dried rations from the military."

"It's enough," Lee insisted. "We just need to curb the hunger until we can get back to Galactica and Pegasus."

Kara nodded and slipped the food into another bag. When it was full, she handed it to Lee who slung it over his shoulder. "I'm almost done," she said softly.

Lee didn't have to ask her what still needed to be done. "Do you want me to give you a moment alone?"

"No, stay here," she insisted.

Lee watched Kara turn her back to him and slide over to the bed. She sat down on the edge and folded her hands together before lowering her head in prayer. Lee shifted from side to side, wondering why exactly he was putting himself through this torture. Then he would look up to see Kara's face so full of sadness and remorse, and he would know. She was his reason for everything.

Kara held her fingertips up to her lips and, kissing them gently, laid them on the pillow. Standing up, she slid her hand underneath the mattress and pulled out a small black case and a worn book. When she opened the book, a small flash of metal fell to the ground. Lee reached out to pick up the dog tags and, pausing only for a moment, slid them around her neck. Kara's hand came up to clutch the tags to her heart, and she gave Lee a nod. She was ready to leave.

They were halfway through the city before Kara paused to look at Lee. "I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"You came to visit me every day we were locked down in that bunker."

"Kara…" Lee started.

"No, Lee. You didn't have to, not _every_ day. You might have thought I didn't notice, but I did. Some days the only reason I could get myself to wake up was knowing you were going to come by to see me. You would have news about Bauer's progress in learning pyramid or a new story from the Chief about why he hated pilots and their lack of respect for their machines. Seeing you was like a breath of normalcy in a day that was filled with chaos from start to finish. I was able to focus when you were around."

"I wasn't going to give up on you," Lee whispered, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his body.

"Yes, you were. That last day you came to me, I could see the desperation in your face. You were about to lose hope. In the end, _that _was what brought me back. For years now, I refused to be your weakness, the one thing that would finally make the god Apollo fall from the sun. No matter what I did, I couldn't get away from it, though." Kara's arms tightened around his waist. "I wasn't going to let you give up."

Lee leaned down to kiss the top of her head. He couldn't help it. He knew that this was the worst time to be falling hopelessly, irrevocably in love with his best friend. She had just given tribute to the husband she lost.

As always, Lee had impeccable timing.

"Do you know what scares me the most?" Kara's eyes fell down to her feet. "I'm not sure I can do this without you."

"Do what?"

"Live." Kara drew her eyes up to meet his, and Lee felt his heart drop out at the way the tears pooled in her eyes. It was his best kept secret. Everyone thought that it was Kara's temper and mean words that did the most damage, but it was really her tears that always made him lose control.

This time was no different.

Lee couldn't have held the words back if he had tried. "Marry me."

Kara's eyes went wide, but she didn't struggle to get away from him. That gave Lee the courage to ask again. This time he was more sure of the question. "Marry me, Kara."

"What the frak do you think you're doing, Lee?"

"Making sure that you're never scared again. If you're not sure you can do this without me, then it's my responsibility to make sure that never happens."

"Lee, if you're doing this because you're scared I'm going to lose it again, you needn't bother."

"I'm doing this because I love you, Kara. I'm doing this because I'm tired of waiting for the timing to be right. The timing is never going to be right unless we make it that way. So, what do you say? Let's give the Old Man the best welcome home present he could ever ask for."

"You are beyond insane," Kara said, shaking her head.

"Is that a yes?"

"No," Kara deadpanned. She lasted about two seconds before her whole face lit up with a smile. The next thing Lee knew he was standing in the middle of an abandoned city of hope while the woman of his dreams kissed him to within an inch of his life. The Cylons could have attacked them right then and there, and he would not have cared.

Eventually, the laughter started mixing with the tears, and Kara pulled back to smile at him. "If you want to get technical, Commander, sir, I'd say it was more like a frak yes."

Lee spun her around a few times before finally letting go. "As much as I'd love to keep doing this, Kara, we have to get back to the rest of the group."

Kara reached out to smooth down Lee's hair. It had gotten awfully long while she was in her little trance, and she had mussed it up without even realizing. Kara decided she would have to cut it first thing when they got home. "I'd say we have the rest of our lives to continue the discussion about just how completely appropriate it was for you to ask me to marry you in the middle of a war zone."

They walked hand in hand back to the playground, both taking the time to scan the perimeter the whole way there. Suddenly, they had something to live for, and neither pilot was going to let the Cylons frak this one up.

Kara stopped right outside their camp to riffle through her bag. She pulled out the black case she had packed alongside her sketchbook.

"What's that?" Lee asked. He heard someone call his name and turned to wave at Bauer.

"Would you do something for me, Lee?"

Lee's eyes narrowed. The last time Kara asked him this question, he had ended up with a tattoo that became her wedding vow to another man. Gods, he really was a glutton for punishment when it came to Kara. "Anything you want."

Kara's smile widened. "Good. We're going to need to get Eve alone for a few minutes."

Lee shrugged his shoulders and started walking. Even after years, he still could not figure out Kara Thrace. She was the definition of a pure enigma.

An hour later, Lee was walking over to check in with the Chief and hoping that this time Kara's little favor wouldn't backfire on him. Tyrol quickly told him that absolutely nothing had happened while he and Captain Thrace were gone, and Lee quickly busied himself with checking the small warning traps they had set up around the perimeter. It took him a few seconds to realize he had been followed. "What do you need, Bauer?" The young boy walked over to Lee and continued to stare. "Kid?"

"What did you do to your hand?"

Lee looked down at the bandage holding the four fingers on his left hand together. "It's nothing."

"I figured. You would tell us if you were too hurt to fight."

"But?" Lee said, getting the hint that Bauer wasn't finished.

"But I was helping Kara with figuring out just how far we have to stretch the food and I noticed her hand was bandaged, too. It got me to thinking."

"And what are you thinking?"

"I don't know," Bauer admitted. "But I figured you're usually straight forward with me so if I asked, you'd tell me."

Lee took a deep breath and sat down on the ground, motioning for Bauer to take a seat next to him. Ignoring the pain, he unwound the gauze. "This was Kara's design," he said, holding out his hand for the boy to see. Kara's words rang through his head. _Our hands will never be empty again._

Bauer's eyes swept over the markings on Lee's ring finger. There were interlocking circles and lines coming together to form two wings. Lee flipped his hand over to show that the design went all of the way around. "That looks like the tattoos you and Kara have on your arms."

"She designed those, too."

Bauer's hand came out as if he wanted to touch the tattoo, but then he pulled back, changing his mind for some reason. "I know what those are."

Lee decided to play dumb. "What are they?" He gave the boy a smile as he started wrapping his hand again.

"They're marriage bands. A lot of people got those from Kara when we first settled here. There was no gold or silver so tattoos were the next best thing."

Lee nodded. "That's right."

"I didn't know you and Kara were married."

"We're not. At least not until we get back to the Fleet."

Bauer thought that over for a second before nodding. "The Chief owes me ten cubits."

Lee pulled himself to his feet and then offered Bauer a hand up. "Why does the Chief owe you money?"

"He bet me that you two would never get your heads out of your asses and make something permanent."

Lee let out a loud laugh and slung his arm around Bauer's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Let's finish checking

these traps."


	12. Chapter 12

Kara woke up with a start but not because she was screaming. She hadn't screamed herself awake in over a week.

No, this time she had woken up because her lunkhead of a commanding officer had rolled himself right on top of her and his knee was now jamming itself into the healed over bullet wound on her thigh. "Get off me, Lee," Kara growled, shoving him away.

"I'm tired," Lee mumbled.

"I'll tired you." Kara twisted her body to punch him in the back.

"Ow. Frak, Kara!"

"I told you to get off me," Kara said, already leaning in to kiss where his skin was starting to redden.

"Are you going to do this every morning when we wake up next to each other?"

Kara smiled and let Lee pull her body on top of his. "Well, that is just a wonderful thought to be having, Commander."

Lee smiled and craned his neck to kiss the corner of her mouth. His hands came out to caress the skin on her back where her tanks had risen up. His fingertips ran along the lines of her scars, and his grin widened. He loved the feel of her body in the morning.

"Lee, we need to get up," Kara reminded him.

"Just a few more minutes."

"We're supposed to be taking over the watch."

"Just a few more minutes," he repeated.

"Lee Adama, I am not going to shake off our responsibilities just to give you a good frak."

"Why not?" Lee asked even as he let go of his hold on Kara. When she reached to pick her jacket up off the ground, his gaze fell down to her hand. "We've been engaged for over a week. I thought you were supposed to consecrate these kinds of things."

Kara laughed and flung Lee's jacket at his head. "Get your head in the game and I promise we can _consecrate_ for days when we get home."

"Agreed." Lee gave her a wink that said he would be holding her to that promise. Now that Kara had offered him ample reason to get out of bed, he had no problem pulling on his boots and strapping his gun to his waist. When he was done with that, he bent down and laced up Kara's boots for her. Her thigh had been bothering her lately, and he liked to do whatever he could to ease the pain. Kara gave him a smile as thanks and motioned towards the playground.

Together, they silently moved through the trees until they reached the one spot that had a clear vantage point of the surrounding area. Kara bit back a laugh when she saw Eve demonstrating a proper choke hold to Barclay. Sometimes having a Cylon ally around was too much for her to take.

Lee cleared his throat, and Eve lowered her hands which had been around Barclay's throat. "Eve."

"Commander." Her eyes drifted down to Lee's arm which was around Kara's waist. Their left hands were linked together at Kara's waist. "How are the hands?"

"It still stings a little," Kara said without looking. "But I think the redness has finally gone away."

"I can't believe you two had the Cylon tattoo you in the middle of fighting for our lives," Barclay said as she stood up and stretched.

"Starbuck and Apollo never do anything you could call ordinary."

Kara walked forward to sling her arm around Bauer and gave the Chief a smile. "I thought you two were supposed to be checking the perimeter."

"We did," Tyrol reassured her. "There was nothing to see."

Bauer let out a laugh. "You know, I don't think the Cylons are coming. We've been here ov-"

His words were overshadowed by a massive explosion and the sounds of gunfire raining down. All six of them hit the ground as quickly as they could. It only took a few seconds for Kara and Lee to figure out what was happening, and then they started shouting orders.

"Stay down to the ground and hold tight. Make the machines do most of the work. If they want us, they're going to have to earn it."

Kara crawled over to Eve. "What are you picking up?"

"There's maybe a dozen Centurions, possible two or three humanoid models. I don't think they knew we were here."

"Those frakers stumbled on us by chance?" Kara rolled her eyes. "Un-fraking-believable."

"Keep shooting!" Lee yelled from the other end. "Kara, I want you and Eve to flank around. See if you can't get some shots in from behind."

"No," Kara said, shaking her head.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not fraking leaving you, Lee."

"I said get the frak out there, Kara."

"No! If we're dying, we're doing it together. I am not leaving this spot."

Lee's eyes held Kara's for a brief second before he gave her a curt nod. He was not happy with her right now, but he couldn't fault her for doing the very same thing he would have done.

"I got one!"

Lee twisted to see Bauer smiling at the fallout of a small explosion across the way. "Do not celebrate until we've won. You'll get yourself killed."

Bauer's face steeled as he realized he just made a juvenile mistake. After months of trying to learn from Kara and Lee and the Chief and Barclay and Eve, he was still acting like a little kid. He was going to apologize for being so stupid when Lee started speaking again.

"But besides that, nice job." Lee gave him a quick wink and then nodded back to where the gunshots were still coming from.

Things got serious rather quickly after that. A Centurion got a lucky shot which exploded one of the support beams on the swing set. The shrapnel from the blast recoiled right into the trench they were using for cover. Barclay swore, and Kara turned to catch the sight of blood on the ex-pyramid player's face. That was all the time she could afford for her friend. The Cylons were starting to take the offensive. It was no longer just idly shoot at one another until someone makes contact. The toasters were moving in for the kill.

Kara heard Lee yell at Bauer to go check on Barclay, and a few seconds later she heard a loud scream. Barclay must have been knocked unconscious, but whatever the kid had just done remedied that. She could hear her friend screaming that she couldn't see. The Chief's voice mingled in with the screams. It took Kara a few times to realize what he was saying.

A quick look to the side confirmed it. The shrapnel had hit Barclay's head, but it had only cut up her forehead. She couldn't see because there was blood flowing down her face. It was nothing Cottle couldn't fix up when they got home. "Just hold strong," Kara screamed, unloading another clip into the general area of the Cylons.

"We only took out three Centurions, but I think I just shot myself," Eve screamed. "We're going to be able to do this unless something changes."

"Just hold on," Kara yelled. "We have to hold on."

Lee made his way to her side and held his hand out for a clip. Kara slapped it into his hand and was reminded of the time they did this on the surface of Kobol. Things had been a lot less dire and a lot simpler back then. "I don't know if we can do this, Lee."

"We have to," Lee said, twisting to fire at the machines again.

"This is just a handful. If they come at us with more, we're dead."

Lee ducked down to look at her. "Don't give up on me, Kara. Not after everything we've gone through." He gave her a small smile before moving up to take aim at the toasters again.

Kara let his words wash over her for a few moments and then responded by taking aim and knocking out two Centurions with a handful of shots. This time, she wasn't going to let herself give up on what she and Lee could do. She had been to hell and back physically, mentally, and emotionally since moving down to New Caprica. She gave up on one love in order to devote herself to another only to end up back in the arms of the first. She had lost her place in life, her definition of who she was, only to have it thrust upon her once more. Her sanity was pushed to the brink, and she nearly gave up. The only thing that kept her from breaking was the final understanding of what exactly that would mean. For one to let go of life, you had to let go of your lifeline.

If Kara broke, she was going to take Lee with her.

She wasn't about to do that.

"Do you hear that?"

Lee's voice brought her back to the present. "What are you talking about?" Kara shouted.

Lee gave her a look as if she was crazy not to know what he was talking about. Kara was about to scream that with all the gunshots mingling with explosions everywhere around them how the frak was she supposed to hear anything when she heard it.

A gentle whooshing noise in the air current above them.

Kara's eyes rose up just in time to see the Raptor fall from the sky and rain fire down upon the trees below. The Cylons didn't stand a chance. "Oh my gods," Kara whispered. She turned to Lee to see that his eyes were just as wide as hers.

Lee was the one who snapped out of it first. "Everybody form up. Galen, help Barclay. We're making our way to that Raptor."

"But what about last time?" Bauer shouted before he could even think about what he was saying. His gaze fell to Kara as he remembered just how the last rescue attempt had gone to hell.

Kara gave him a sympathetic smile. She could relate to having those stupid foot-in-mouth moments like no one else. "It doesn't matter right now, kid. The Cylons know where we are. We've run out of places to go so it's either let that Raptor take us home or take it along with us to the end."

They had hobbled their way halfway across the area by the time the Raptor's ramp was lowered, and not one person hesitated to board the ship. They all wanted this struggle to be over.

Kara only paused when she saw who was sitting in the pilot's seat. A overwhelming sense of safety washed over her. This was definitely not a Cylon. "Karl?"

Helo turned to smile at her and then his focus turned to Lee. "You know I wasn't sure which one of you I wanted it to be more."

Kara smiled and moved into the co-pilot seat. "You should have known it would be both of us."

"That _is_ your m.o.," Helo said, punching the button to raise the ramp. "It's good to see you, Commander."

"You, too, Helo," Lee said, taking the ECO seat almost by instinct. He worked with the information on the screens in front of him for a few minutes until the ship took off. Then he turned his attention to where the rest of his team was resting. "Chief?"

Tyrol followed Lee's eyes to where Barclay sat with a piece of cloth ripped from his shirt clutched to her forehead. "She's going to be fine. The bleeding's slowed down, and most of the wounds look like they won't even need stitches."

"Good," Lee said. He looked to Bauer, and seeing the boy was all right, only gave him a quick nod. Then, he turned his attention to Eve. She was huddled against the back of the Raptor, noticeably out of Helo's sight line. It was just another reason why Lee put his trust in her. She was smart enough to know that making her presence felt would pretty much kill Helo's desire to rescue them. Delays could not happen right now.

Lee sat back in his chair and patiently waited until they broke through the atmosphere of New Caprica. "Helo, how long until we make it back home?"

"We have a few minutes."

"There's something you need to know."

Helo's eyes followed to where Lee was looking, and his face paled as he caught sight of Eve. "What the frak is going on?"

"She's a part of our team," Kara said before Lee could respond. "She saved our asses when the first rescue attempt went sour. Eve is the sole reason we were able to get a message to the Fleet."

Helo shot her a confused look before shaking his head. "You know we wondered about that. Sharon just upped and told the Admiral that he had to send a Raptor back to New Caprica, that there were survivors, but she had no idea where the message came from and why exactly she was telling him to follow it."

"We can explain things more in debrief, but right now, I'm hoping you'll trust Kara and I enough to keep flying this ship home."

"Whatever," Helo said with a laugh. "I've learned the hard way that when Starbuck or Apollo tells you to do something, you fraking do it if you don't want to get sucker punched by the gods."

The FTL drive started powering up as Helo prepared to make the first jump with his ship. Kara watched her friend silently at work until old instincts kicked in and she realized something wasn't right. "Why are you biting your tongue, Karl?"

Helo winced but kept staring at the panel in front of him. "It's nothing, Kara. We can talk about it later."

"Karl Agathon, I am extremely exhausted right now. I am not in the mood to be fighting with you. So you either ask whatever the frak you're dying to ask or gods help you, I will shoot you down on the spot and pilot this Raptor home myself." Kara could see Lee staring at her in amazement out of the corner of her eye, and she threw him a quick wink.

"I just… well, I thought there would be more of you."

"Our first attempt at getting rescued didn't end well," Kara explained. "We lost almost all of our resistance group."

Helo took a deep breath and asked the real question that was on his mind. "Including Anders?"

"Sam gave his life for all of us. He's the only reason we managed to stay alive those first few minutes after the Cylons attacked."

Helo turned to look at Kara. "I'm sorry."

"I'm okay," Kara reassured him. "It took me a long while, but I'm finally okay." She started rubbing the inked skin on her ring finger as memories of what she had struggled through came back. "I'm okay."

"I don't remember you having wedding bands tattooed in addition to your arms," Helo remarked.

Kara smiled. "This one's new."

Helo's eyes went wide. "Really?"

Kara motioned behind her, and Helo turned to look at Lee. The Commander was holding up his hand to show off the same tattoo that was on Kara's finger. "What?" Helo exclaimed, turning to stare at Kara.

"It's not official yet," Kara explained. "We didn't exactly have a priestess among us."

Helo stared at her a moment before letting out a low whistle. "Boy do I wish I could have kept that pool going on Galactica. We canceled it and split the money when you finally got married, Kara. We thought we were being respectful, what with you off the market to Apollo and everything."

"What day did you bet on?" Kara asked. Her curiosity was getting the better of her again.

"You're going to laugh," Helo insisted.

"No, I'm not. Tell me, Karl."

"I originally had one of those weeks when we were trying to shoot down Scar, and then when everyone's days came and went, I picked the fraking week before you married Anders. Talk about shitty timing. I know now I fraking won the second bet, but there's nothing I can do to prove it."

"Gods, I'm sorry," Lee said, shaking his head. He knew how much it hurt Helo to lose a bet.

Kara winked at Helo when he turned to her for her part of the apology. She definitely wasn't saying sorry, but she did feel bad for him. "You should probably try to get those bets back from the rest of the people. We'll back you up."

Helo stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Are there any other surprises I should know about?" When both Kara and Lee shook their heads, he shut his eyes and threw his hands into the air. "Thank the gods for that." Helo pivoted in his seat to look at the back of the Raptor. "Chief?"

Tyrol motioned Bauer to look after Barclay and walked up to the front end of the Raptor. "LT?"

"Actually, it's Captain now, but I'll let that one slide." Helo winked at Kara before turning back to Tyrol. "I just wanted to let you know that I've been watching over your family for the past year on the Pegasus. Cally never gave up hope that you were alive, not for one second."

Kara watched as the Chief's face filled with relief. It was only then that she realized he had probably been worried that his wife would have mourned his death and moved on with her life.

"My… my sons?"

"They're just fine, Chief. Though lately Colin's been wondering where his daddy went to. Cally keeps telling him that you're going to be coming home any day now. Then she proceeds to scream at me as if I could do something to fix the problem."

Tyrol laughed. "That's my girl."

"FTL's engaging," Lee called from the ECO chair. "Jump in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."


	13. Chapter 13

The Raptor touched down on Galactica under strict orders from the Admiral that he would personally shoot Helo if he did not bring the survivors straight back to him. Everyone busied them helping Helo with the powering down so they could get off the ship as fast as possible. Everyone _but _Eve had people they were dying to get home to. Eve just wanted to start this horrible process so she could be accepted by the Fleet and then Lee could start teaching her to fly like he promised.

Lee was halfway through powering down the intel screens when he realized Kara was still sitting in the co-pilot seat. She had been staring out the window from practically the moment they landed. "Finish this up," Lee instructed Helo before moving to rest his hand on Kara's shoulder. "Kara?"

"Do you think he's going to be angry with me, Lee?"

"Angry? For what?"

"I left him. He needed me to stay, and I was too selfish to do that one little thing for him."

"You earned a right to make your own decision," Lee assured her. "Yes, he was mad at first, but I forced him to see how stupid he was being."

"I broke his heart, Lee."

"You broke _mine_ on numerous occasions," Lee reminded her, "and that never stopped me from worrying about you. It never affected just how much I love you. My father's the same way." Lee waited for Kara to give him a smile and a nod. When she still looked worried, he crouched down and rested his hands on her thighs. "Kara, listen to me. My father owes you the world, and you better believe I'll let him know it the first second I get the chance."

"What are you talking about?"

Kara looked so beautiful and vulnerable in the moment that if Lee hadn't already been head over heels in love with her before, he definitely would be now. "You are the only reason I'm alive, Kara, my love. You risked everything to save me from the Cylons simply because you never gave up hope. I was stuck in some horribly dark place, and I didn't care if I ever found a way out. I gave up on there being something to live for, something to fight for. Then you showed up. Over and over again, I felt myself losing my grip and you would pop back into my life. You have given me more joy and happiness in the past year than I have ever felt before, Kara. You saved me. For that alone, my father should feel indebted to you for life."

He leaned in to brush his lips lightly across hers, and when he pulled back, he saw the smile he had been searching for. His fingers brushed away her tears for what he hoped would be the last time. She had cried enough to last her a lifetime. "Are you ready?"

She gave him a small nod and, slipping her hand into his, they made their way down the ramp together.

It was instant pandemonium just like Lee knew it would be. He was bringing an extremely recognizable Cylon to the one place the machines shouldn't be. He felt Kara give him a gentle push in the direction of Eve and knew she was right. As much as he wanted and needed to stay by her side, Eve wasn't going to survive this without him screaming at the Marines to back off and let him explain.

Kara looked around the chaos of the hangar bay. Everyone's eyes were on either Eve's upcoming capture, Cottle's doctoring of Barclay, or the huge uproar of Cally and Tyrol's reunion. No one was paying her much attention. She figured that was a good thing. She didn't want to do this without Lee.

She was still scanning the hangar bay, trying to get a feel for the life she had left so long ago, which was why she was the first one to see him. Almost by instinct she screamed, "Admiral on deck!"

The hangar bay went silent as Adama followed the sound of the voice right to where she was standing. Kara felt her stomach drop out. She was supposed to be blending in, not demanding the attention of every person on Galactica.

Adama weaved his way through the crowd until he was standing before her. Kara felt her head tilt down in a move she was starting to get used to. Why was it she always felt like a little girl who did something wrong when the Old Man looked at her so intently?

"Sir," Kara said quietly.

Adama's hand ran along her cheek before tilting her chin up to face him. Kara bit her lip as she realized the Old Man looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry," she blurted out before bursting into tears herself.

Adama wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to him. "I'm the one that's sorry, Kara," he whispered gently into her ear. "I'm the one who's sorry." He kept repeating the same words over and over until he could feel her body stop shaking. It was only then that he let go of his tight hold. "I would never have forgiven myself if I had lost you, Kara. You are the only child I have left."

Kara couldn't help it. The corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. "Actually, sir, I brought you a little gift that might make you feel better."

When Adama realized Kara was staring at something over his shoulder, he turned in time to see the crowd parting to let Lee through. He felt his heart stop beating for just a brief second and then it started pounding out of control.

Kara watched the Old Man embrace his son, and she suddenly realized William Adama had just gone through a full year of not knowing where Lee was. From what she had been told, Lee was commanding the Pegasus during the first rescue attempt on New Caprica and then he wasn't. Leoben took him, but the Old Man didn't know that. All he knew was his eldest son disappeared without a trace from one of the securest places left in this world.

Lee whispered something into his father's ear, and Adama took a step away. "Out of everything you could have said you chose 'who's been flying my ship'?" Adama shouted over the chaos.

Kara had to bite back a laugh. Lee really was his father's son.

Adama looked around at the celebration and realized it would be hours before anyone would think about filling reports on the situation. "Gaeta has the boards in the CIC. Why don't you two follow me to my office and we can start the long process of you explaining how you both managed to stay alive for twelve months down on New Caprica?"

Lee gave his father a quick nod and reached down to grab Kara's hand. "How's it going?" he whispered, leaning in to nip the top of her ear.

She elbowed him in the ribs before smiling. "You were right."

"About?"

"Everything."

"It's about time you admitted that."

Kara leaned into Lee as they walked down familiar corridors. She couldn't believe they had actually pulled this off. She couldn't believe she and Lee were walking down this hall together like it was the first day after the attacks. Back then, Lee was a newly-appointed CAG and she was just a rebellious lead pilot. Now Lee was a Commander who had lost a year of his command and she… she was just a woman hopelessly in love with her best friend.

Lee placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her into his father's office. They followed Adama past the desk and chairs they usually conversed over and took a seat on the couch. Kara found herself sitting so that her thigh kept contact with Lee. She knew they should ease the Admiral into the bomb they had to drop, but she just couldn't put distance between herself and Lee. She needed him close right now.

"I figured I'd start by answering your question," Adama said, leaning back on the couch. "It took me a few weeks to accept that you were really gone, son, and by that time, the survivors from New Caprica had been reintegrated into the Fleet. My only real choice for Pegasus was Colonel Tigh."

Kara nodded and looked over to see Lee doing the same. That really was the only choice. There was no one below Lee who could handle the massive amount of pressure associated with commanding a battlestar.

"The two of us have had an understanding, though. As soon as you're ready, Tigh will relinquish command of the Pegasus. He's more than happy to return to being my XO."

"How has the rest of the Fleet been?" Lee asked.

"We've been struggling through. I've been doing my best to keep making progress towards finding Earth."

"How far are we from our goal?"

"Let me put it this way, Kara. We have a lot of information to make future jumps, but I haven't let the Fleet jump that often in the past year. If the Cylons weren't right on top of us, we stayed put."

"Why?"

A look of discomfort passed across Adama's face at his son's question. "Do you remember what happened when Kara got herself marooned on that moon three years ago?" Lee nodded. "Well, this time Laura didn't object to our hanging around until the last possible second."

"I think Kara's been growing on her," Lee joked, earning himself a punch from the woman at his side. Without thought, he caught her hand as she went to hit him again. His fingers rubbed across the tattoo, and he couldn't help but hold it up to his lips for a quick kiss. As soon as he did it, he realized what a huge mistake it was.

"Someone please explain to me what I'm seeing."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kara spit out, practically shoving her hands underneath her thighs to cover up the evidence. Lee wanted to laugh. He could always count on Kara for balls-out denial.

"What happened between you two down on that planet?"

"She saved my life," Lee answered.

Kara sighed and twisted herself to face the only man she had ever considered a father. "We can beat around the issue for hours, sir, but I honestly don't have the energy. Anders and I were heavily involved with the resistance on New Caprica. A few weeks before the Fleet returned for us, I got taken by the Cylons. I escaped."

"That's my girl," Adama growled.

"I was laid up in a hospital bed per Doc Cottle when the rescue happened. I did what I could to figure out the best way to get everyone off the planet. People volunteered to start creating diversions from the main rescue initiatives, and therefore they agreed to stay behind. Anders stayed with me." Kara paused to get her bearings. She hated thinking about all the brave people who had sacrificed their lives just so that others could live another day. They had trusted in her plan to get them saved, and she had fraked it up.

"Kara got word of the Cylons taking me, and you can just imagine what happened next."

"She went on a mission to save you."

"Am I that predictable?" Kara exclaimed.

"When it comes to my son, yes," Adama insisted.

"Frak you," Kara hissed good-naturedly.

"She brought me back to the resistance's headquarters and told me of the plan she thought up with Cally."

"It was a good plan by the way," Adama interjected.

"I thought so up until the point that it all went south. We showed up at that clearing and for a second, I thought it was all going to go off without a hitch. A Raptor landed, and I thought it was the start of the end. It turns out the Sharon piloting that thing was not the model we wanted to be seeing." Kara cleared her throat and hopped no one would scold her if she sort of bulldozed over the next little bit. "We were stuck, and everyone knew it."

Lee reached out to grab Kara's hand and smiled. "Kara's husband sacrificed himself to find out if we had a chance. He's one of the main reasons the five of us were able to make it out of that situation."

"I thought there was six of you. Or are we not counting the Cylon?"

"You heard about that?" Lee said, wincing.

"I might be a little overwhelmed by seeing both of my children alive and well, but I'm still the commanding officer of this Fleet."

"Give Eve a chance," Kara said.

Adama smiled. "Kara Thrace standing up for a Cylon? I never thought I'd live to see the day."

Kara laughed. "Why do I get the feeling that you already decided to not throw Eve out an airlock?"

"I told you things changed while you were gone," Lee reminded her. "Dad's a huge Cylon lover now."

"Don't get carried away," Adama warned.

When the laughter died down, Lee picked up the explanation. "Eve showed up while we were sitting ducks for the Cylons to pick off. She offered us an out, and we took it. For the next eight months, we locked ourselves into the old bunker. It was a tough time for everyone."

"You don't have to protect me," Kara interrupted. She turned to Adama. "I had a bit of a breakdown, sir. Your son is the only reason I was able to get myself back together. He pulled me through."

Adama nodded. "I really didn't think the bond you two have could get any more intense, but I guess I was wrong. Almost losing your lives and minds can make you get your head in gear real fast. You start realizing all the stupid mistakes you've been making over the years." The phone on the Admiral's desk started ringing, and after a second's deliberation, he excused himself from his two children.

Kara shifted to look at Lee. "It took us a little while, but I think we talked our way around that little kiss of yours, Adama."

Lee nodded. They had both agreed on the last part of their Raptor ride home that they were going to do their best to wait until the newness of the situation had faded away before they sprung the whole marriage thing on the Old Man.

Adama set down the phone. "I'm sorry about that. Gaeta wanted to make sure the orders to keep the Cylon alive were by my approval."

"No problem," Kara said. "We were pretty much finished with our report. Eve contacted Sharon, and then you showed up two weeks later. Happily ever after."

Adama chuckled. He had really missed this young woman. "Well, then if there's nothing else, I propose a little dinner and then I'll figure out where you can bunk for the night."

"No."

Kara and Adama both snapped their neck to look at Lee.

"No what, son?"

"Yeah, no fraking what, Lee?"

"No, I'm not done talking. Yes, there is something else." Lee turned to give Kara a small shrug, and he could see her eyes go wide.

"Do not fraking do this, Lee."

"I'm tired of not being honest."

"But now?"

"I'm not waiting."

"You are such a selfish bastard sometimes."

"Yeah, I know that. I don't care."

"You should care. We talked about this. You're fraking everything up."

"I always do."

"Maybe I want to be selfish and not have you frak up one of the best days of my life."

Lee reached out to grab Kara's hand. "You really think telling him will ruin the day? Shouldn't it make it all the better?"

"Stop trying to make me smile, Lee."

"Stop being so happy."

"Why don't you both just stop?" Adama yelled. His outburst earned him the immediate attention of both Kara and Lee. "Now, would someone please tell me right this minute what I'm not supposed to know?"

Lee grabbed Kara's hand and thrust it out alongside his for his father to see. "We're getting married just as soon as we can find a priestess."

Adama's eyes went wide, and he fumbled for the words to respond. "I… when… how did you… but… I don't see… are you two out of your fraking minds?"

"I thought that had been established," Kara mumbled.

"I'm just tired of trying to be responsible and putting the Fleet before myself," Lee explained. "This is something I want, something I've wanted for a long time. In my opinion, it does nothing but strengthen my command to have Kara by my side."

Adama considered this for a moment and then turned to the woman sitting next to him. "Kara?"

"You know me, sir. I've been dying to be an Adama for years." Kara was rewarded with a laugh, but seeing the stern look on Lee's face made her realize her future husband deserved more than just a joke about a family name. "Seriously, sir, I went through a rough patch down on New Caprica, and your son was the only reason I could find to get up in the morning. I'm not sure I could go back to the way things were. I'm not sure I can give him up."

Adama took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose for a minute. "Fine. What do you two propose I do with this new development?"

"Make Kara the CAG of Pegasus. Since I'm Commander, there's not a lot of complaints that could be lodged about favoritism. She'll be making flight schedules I won't even see until they've been approved by my XO, which I assume is still going to be Helo." Adama nodded his approval, and Lee continued, "Having Helo with me will keep me from doing something stupid like letting my worry about Kara getting hurt keep me from assigning her to head up missions. Karl's very vocal when he thinks he sees a problem."

Kara bit back a laugh. Very vocal didn't even begin to cut it.

"I can't say I'm happy about this," Adama growled. Kara was scared for a few seconds until Adama's serious face shifted into a rare smile. "But I can't say that I'm that mad about it, either."

Lee's eyes went wide. "You're actually going to let us do this?"

Adama shrugged. "You're grown adults. It's the end of the world. Why not?"

Kara was so excited that she didn't even register what she was doing until she had Lee pinned against his father's couch. She was on a one woman mission to keep Lee Adama occupied so that he wouldn't start to wonder why his father wasn't stunned by the news of their upcoming marriage. Knowing Lee, he'd change his mind just because his father seemed to approve of his spontaneous decision.

"Kara," Lee groaned against her mouth. "My father.."

Kara pulled back for just long enough to hear the hatch shut. "Your father is a very smart man," she smirked.

Lee shifted to make sure that his father had indeed left them along. When he felt certain they were alone, he let his hands start to wander his future wife's body. "I think I'm a pretty smart man, too."

"How so?"

"I figured out a way to get you to admit you loved me, didn't I?"

Kara playfully smacked his chest as she slid a leg across his lap in order to straddle him. "I'm never going to get tired of this, am I?"

"I hope not."

Kara smiled. "That's a word I've never really appreciated before. Hope… yeah, I like the sound of it."

Lee pulled Kara down so that her head rested against his shoulders and just held on tight. "We're going to be okay, Kara."

"It took me over three years to believe you when you said that."

"Worth the wait?"

Kara gave a rather suggestive nod and wasn't surprised when Lee moved his head to kiss her again. Learning how to press Lee's buttons just right was something it _hadn't _take three years to learn. Frak, it felt so familiar half the time that she wondered if she had had it since birth.

"Kara." Lee's voice made her stop the kissing onslaught she was waging on his neck. "I love you and all, but I refuse to frak you on the couch in my father's office."

"Well, then you better start using that head of yours because if you don't find a suitable place within the next couple minutes, I am most definitely fraking you on the Old Man's couch." A wicked smile lit up her face. "Or if you want, we can move to the desk."

Lee groaned and stood up, keeping Kara wrapped around his waist. Her fingertips danced along the small hairs at the base of his neck as Lee began to make his way to the hatch. "You got a plan, Commander?"

"If I remember correctly, there's a really nice bunkroom that you and I probably have enough rank to clear." Lee winked at her. "I always wanted to get you into my bunk back when we shared that place."

Kara shook her head with a laugh. "Lee Adama, I hope to the gods that you can handle the can of trouble you're about to open."

Lee answered her by pushing her back up against the side of the corridor and kissing her until he was pretty sure she couldn't remember her own name, let alone where she was.

Hope. It really was a nice word.


End file.
